


Sunny and Grey

by SpongeGuy



Series: The Milo Murphy's Law Wiki Guy AU [20]
Category: Milo Murphy's Law
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-09-23 05:14:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20334658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpongeGuy/pseuds/SpongeGuy
Summary: Lydia and Bradley Nicholson. One is a bright and cheerful and can't stop talking. The other is dull and depressed, cynical with the world. The two could not be more different. But when a science project pairs them up in random, watch as these two unlikely partners become friends. And maybe more... Bradley X Lydia (Grey Sunshine), Part of "The Milo Murphy's Law Wiki Guy AU".





	1. Chapter 1

(A white background is shown)

(“Accidentally In Love” by Counting Crows plays)

(It splits in half, and we see two sides: On the right, Lydia, literally shining and radiant, emanating a yellow glow. On the left, Bradley, dull and dusky, a grey glow emanating from him)

(We see both sides at the same time:

(They both wake up, Lydia excitedly getting dressed, brushing her teeth and running around talking up a storm while shoving cereal in to her mouth)

(Bradley, meanwhile, moans and grumbles, and drags his feet as he gets dressed, brushes his teeth and takes a bag with a bland sandwich in it)

(Lydia walks and talks with Amanda, gesticulating like crazy and sharing feelings and ideas. Amanda just shakes her head lovingly and smiles)

(Bradley walks and vents to Mort, who has heard it all a million times and meditates as Bradley whines)

(Lydia bids farewell to Amanda and runs off excitedly in the direction of her locker, to the left of the screen)

(Bradley sort of nods at Mort and slowly walks to the right of the screen, to get to his locker)

(The two sides clash. Lydia and Bradley, not looking for a second, crash into each other, and the halfway line disappears)

(Now on the floor, Lydia and Bradley sit back to back. Lydia smiles at the screen and waves, Bradley rolls his eyes and frowns at the screen)

(A title flashes:

Sunny and Grey

Morning.

Sun rise.

Another day.

Whoop de freakin do.

Through drab curtains and lifeless stairs, we enter a room, devoid of laughter, joy and love. The book shelves are straight and proper, containing only a few study books.

The room is clean and tidy, but it’s a tidiness that does not feel inviting.

An office space can be seen, with a small computer that looks a little old, a dinky chair, and a totally empty desk, except for one item: A small, glass snow globe.

The lights are off, reflecting the feelings of the current occupant of the small wooden bed in the middle of the room.

Covered in a barely adequate blanket, lies Bradley Nicholson. A grey boy with a greyer outlook on life.

The sun light breaks through the invisible wall of his window and tries to crack through the invisible wall of his eyes and into his soul, but he won’t let it!

He turns around.

His alarm clock goes off.

He shoves the alarm clock aside and it breaks.

“Dang it.”

He gets up and rubs his eyes.

He puts his glasses on.

He looks around.

“Well, world. Looks like I’m still here.”

He sighs.

“Yeah, I’m about as thrilled as you are.”

He gets up and, scratching his back, begins his daily routine.

He gets dressed.

Same outfit, every day.

“Maybe today it will impress Melissa.”, he thinks.

“Yeah, and maybe I’ll become king of the pop tart people of Alpha Centuri. Don’t be deluded, Bradley!”, he thought.

He looked over at his snow globe.

He picked it up.

He smiled, just for a moment.

And then he reverted to his usual mood.

He made his way downstairs, muttering about his so called “life”.

He brushed his teeth.

He looked in the mirror.

“…Meh.”

He took his bagged lunch and looked at the note on the fridge.

Mom and Dad were busy again.

Big shocker.

He looked outside.

People walked around smiling and laughing.

Why couldn’t he?

He sighed.

“Let’s get this over with.”, he said, and he began his lonely, boring, depressing way to school.

Another day.

Whoop de freakin do.

Morning, but we don’t have to tell the occupant of the big, comfy bed in the bright, colorful room that!

Looking around, we can see posters with motivational messages, famous actors, famous movies, and puppies and kitties!

The walls are painted in swaths of colors! Red, blue, orange, pink, purple, green and yellow are spread around all over the place, like the room was decorated by a maniac or a 14 year old girl with a ton of energy and maybe too much ice cream.

Bean bag chairs litter the place, as well as a big TV, a game system, many books about all kinds of things, a collection of stuffed animals and a work space which is filled with loads of sketches, scripts, stories, journals and poems! 

The room is filled with knick knacks!

All kinds of knick knacks!

Big knacks!

Small knacks!

Weird knacks!

Cute knacks!

Most prominently, is a cactus with sunglasses that waves!

His name is Reggie!

But while the room is breathtaking and awe inspiring, the most amazing thing about it, the most interesting thing about it is the owner of the said room:

LYDIA!

Lydia had jumped out of bed a few minutes ago, and was now rapidly recording her latest dream, in which she had disappeared and her lover had to find her.

She was so caught up in the dream she just HAD to write it down!

“Poor Alyson! She was gone forever, her eyes never to see again, her hair never to blow in the wind again, her mouth never to kiss her lover, Vincent, again! But Vincent, who had experienced isolation enough as a child, would save her! He and a motely band of unlikely heroes would travel in time and save her!”, she said out loud as she wrote, her tongue sticking out in concentration.

She took the piece of paper and looked at it proudly.

“Movie idea number 876 is totally awesome! Woo! I’ll put it away with the rest!”, she declared proudly, and put it in the huge and collapsing pile of paper on her desk.

“I’d, like, totally get an academy award for that for sure!”, she thought, and she went on to imagine herself in a lavish ceremony.

She had a big poofy dress with lots of curls, and she looked at the stage, where the host, who looked a lot like Amanda, presented the award and announced the winner.

“And the winner for Best Director, Actor, Writer, Dancer, and overall Coolest Person goes to… LYDIA!”, she announced.

Lydia back flipped from her chair onto the stage and accepted the award.

“I, like, want to thank Amanda, my parents, Amanda, my friends, Amanda, Amanda and AMANDA!”, Lydia thanked and smiled as she felt the sun shine on her from her window.

Lydia looked outside at the sun, whose bright rays were oh so inviting.

“Another beautiful, wonderful, perfect day! Who knows what I’ll discover today? What adventures await me today? What magic is in store?”, she said out loud.

She was so excited!

She got dressed like a jet, wearing what she wore every day.

She got her bag ready, stuffing it with all the essentials: Chocolate bars, notebooks, study books, stickers, glitter cannons, pictures of her and Amanda, chocolate bars, Commedia Del Arte masks (just in case), pop figures, mineral water, costumes for a costume change (just in case), pencils, erasers, sharpeners, lucky charms and chocolate bars.

She looked at her Cactus Reggie.

He waved at her.

She waved excitedly back.

She whooshed downstairs, nearly dropping her dad, who was reading the newspaper.

“Sorry, Dad!”, she called, rushing to the bathroom.

“It’s ok, sunshine!”, he called, getting his balance back.

Lydia brushed her teeth quickly and messily, spraying the mirror with tooth paste.

She looked at herself and noticed the leftover toothpaste all over the bottom part of her mouth.

She raised her hands and roared at herself, pretending to be a yeti.

She then took an imaginary razor.

“Yes, I have been cultivating this beard. Isn’t it simply marvelous?”, she said in a rich man’s voice, and she laughed haughtily.

“But alas… ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END!”, she announced crazily, and with an insane laugh, “shaved”.

“DIE BEARD! DIE! DIE!”, she shouted, and the beard was gone.

R.I.P

Lydia took a pretend hat off her head and pretended to mourn.

“It shall be sorely missed.”, she said.

She then looked at herself in the mirror, all dressed and ready to go.

She fired out finger guns at herself.

“Seize the day, Lydia!”, she said to herself.

“I will, Mirror Lydia!”, she replied, and looked at the shower.

“Singing appointment later, ‘kay shower?”, she said.

She then smelled her arm pit.

“Whew! Yep, shower appointment today no matter what!”, she declared, and ran to the kitchen to eat breakfast.

As she shoved Dr. Zone-O’s into her mouth, she told her parents about her day.

“So I woke up and I had this dream where, like, I had disappeared into thin air, like, now you see me, POOF! Now you don’t, kind of thing, so, like, my boyfriend, Vincent, and his motely band of unlikely heroes, like, real weirdos and totally alternative went to help him, and then I woke up, and I was like, I HAVE TO WRITE THIS DOWN! So I did, and then I imagined getting an academy award from Amanda, and then I got dressed and got my bag ready, and then I waved at Reggie and brushed me teeth, I looked like a Yeti! It was SO funny, and then I shaved my toothpaste beard, I’m taking a shower today, since I’m REALLY rank, and then I ate breakfast and told you all this, I think we have something in science today, which is, like, SUPER important, and I want to ace it because my grades are totes bad, so, like, that’s what I’m going to do!”

Lydia then scarfed down the rest of her cereal, washed her dish, kissed her Mom and Dad goodbye, and walked out to the front door.

She took a breath of fresh air.

A million thoughts raced through her head.

A million feelings were felt in her heart.

She was giddy with excitement.

The day ahead was going to be exceptional!

She just knew it!

“World, here I come!”, she said happily, and skipped merrily to school.

Another day.

She was going to have SO much fun!

“A bagged lunch. Again. Again, Mort! AND they were both out again! I guess “Good Morning” is not trendy or something!”, Bradley complained.

“I hear you, bro.”, Mort said, his eyes closed, as he meditated while walking.

The two were walking down the street, Bradley grumbling and resigned to his bitterness, Mort serene and peaceful, trying in some way to make Bradley hurt less.

The sun got in Bradley’s eyes, annoying him yet again.

“And it’s not just that, you know! I can’t look myself in the mirror anymore! I feel hideous! I’m never going to impress Melissa…”, Bradley continued to vent.

“Dude, I heard that she and Milo had this whole day together. They’re getting even closer. My chakra tells me they’ll kiss pretty soon.”, Mort delivered this news, sad to do so, but hoping that Bradley will be able to accept fate soon.

“I KNOW! I know…”, he shouted, and then lowered his head in despair.

For a moment, there was silence, a silence Mort appreciated.

But it didn’t last long.

“And it’s not just that!”, Bradley shouted, pointing upwards.

Mort sighed.

“Like I said, I looked in the mirror today, and I just couldn’t look at myself! I used to think I should be adored, but no matter what, no one notices me! No one appreciates me! Heck, I’m starting to think that I’m… I’m… Average!”

Mort shook his head sadly. His friend had many issues to deal with.

A gust of wind blew and Bradley’s plant arm hit him in the face.

He growled with rage, his cheeks turning as red as a tomato.

“AND THIS STUPID PLANT ARM IS GETTING ON MY NERVES!”, he screamed, and he kicked a pebble.

“Owch! My little toe!”, he yelped and, holding his foot, he shook his fist at the heavens.

“Why?”, he shouted at the sky.

Mort put his hand on Bradley’s shoulder.

“Bradley, pal, listen. All this complaining… You need to try to look on the bright side.”

Bradley turned to Mort, skeptical.

“How is that going to help me get some positive attention? Some love and care? Even without Milo hogging the spotlight, I’m invisible!”

Mort kept trying.

“First of all, you know that Milo doesn’t do that.”

Bradley sulked.

He hated to admit it, but he was right.

“Just because it’s unintentional doesn’t make it any less infuriating.”

“And second of all”, Mort continued. “The world isn’t all bad. There are positives in your life.”

Bradley continued to mope.

“Yeah? Like what?”, he asked.

Mort put his hand on Bradley’s back.

“Like me.”

Bradley felt a little bad now.

“Maybe you’re right. If I have you, it can’t be ALL bad.”

Mort smiled.

“That’s the spirit!”

Bradley still sighed, though.

When would his life improve?

“Ohmygod, you should have SEEN it, Amanda! He’s trapped under the building, wheez, wheez, and then, he’s like, ‘I’ve gotta try!’, so he trys to lift it, (puffs up chest), but he totally fails, (lets air out), and then, he’s all like, “HELP!” “HELP!”, and I was crying, tears all over my face, and my popcorn, which got soggy, which was kind of like, yuck, but then I remembered I had another bowl, so I was like, oh yeah! Anyway, such ACTING! And then, he hears Tony, my precious Tony, remind him that he has to be responsible, and then, BADA BING BADA BOOM! He lifts the ENTIRE building! SO COOL! And then he’s all, “Going to stop the bad guy!”, and I’m like, ‘Let’s do it together!”, but then I remembered that it was a movie. So, yeah, I couldn’t help. But still! WOWZERS! I love that movie!”, Lydia ranted to Amanda, and then she started to “thwip” webs.

Amanda shook her head in humor.

“Lydia, you’ve seen that movie 37 times. Which is really weird since it came out just a few months ago.”

Lydia rubbed her neck sheepishly.

“What can I say? It speaks to me.”, she said.

Lydia then began relaying her day to Amanda, which made Amanda laugh.

“And I got this movie idea, which I’ll tell you about soon, and I’m thinking of improving my waltz breakdance watusi victory dance by adding the foxtrot!”, she started to dance.

“Oh, and here’s my new favorite thing about you: Your eyes get literal stars in them when I mention the time you were in “Cake-splosion”!”

Amanda then did just that, out of instinct.

“See?”, Lydia said.

Lydia had a mouth that could run all day. But that didn’t bother Amanda. Just having a friend was nice.

“Honestly”, Amanda thought, “I feel so calm these days. I’m still really worried about my future, but… I have a feeling everything is going to be all right.”

She knew why.

The reason was passing her, sliding through the road on a giant slice of cheese.

“Hi, Amanda! Hi, Lydia!”, Milo waved, as did Melissa and Zack.

“Hi guys!”, Amanda greeted.

“Hey guys! Have a totally fabulous day!”, Lydia greeted cheerfully.

“We’ll try!”, They replied as the cheese continued to slide down the road.

Amanda sighed.

Despite their recent… Break up, Amanda and Milo had stayed on good terms.

She was still a little distant though.

She wasn’t sure how to get back to a friendship with him.

She hoped she’d find the solution soon, though.

She missed him.

Meanwhile, Lydia had finished telling her about her day.

“And I even got a week off from Drama because Corky is gone for a week!”, she said, with a hint of relief.

“That’s good. You could use the break.”, Amanda said.

“Yeah! I feel like a new Lydia! Lydia 2.0: Better. Happier. Comes with twice the SURPRISE TICKLES!”, she suddenly said, tickling Amanda, who giggled.

“Lydia! Stop…”, Amanda laughed.

Lydia laughed too.

“Ooh! I just remembered! There’s a BIG science project today! Are you ready for it? Are you scared? Nervous? Excited? Hyped? So-so? What?”, Lydia barraged Amanda with questions.

Amanda patted Lydia’s back.

“I know I am going to do great. The real question is, are you?”

Lydia stopped talking.

Woah.

She was a little unsure, actually.

Lydia was great at more artistic things.

Science? Tests? Regular school work?

Not so much.

“But that’s ok! I mostly get… Ok grades? Passable?”, she tried to say, but Amanda gave her a knowing look.

“Ok, so maybe my grades are a teensy weensy bit… Bad.”, Lydia admitted to Amanda. “But it’s going to be ok!”, she said, with a thumbs up.

“I’ll just work hard with whoever I get. Which, I hope, might be you?”, Lydia asked.

Amanda wagged her finger.

“I don’t know… I usually end up doing all the work, not that I complain.”

“Not all the work!”, Lydia interjected, not liking the criticism. “I brainstorm the ideas!”

“And I organize them. But if you ever want to improve your G.P.A, you need to learn how to do things differently.”, Amanda said, hoping to get through to her friend. She was really worried for Lydia, and wanted to help.

Lydia wasn’t sure what to do. Do things differently? She was LYDIA! It wasn’t a matter of ego…

She just didn’t get what was wrong with doing things from the heart.

But, looking at Amanda, she knew her friend was coming from a good place.

“I’m not sure what you mean… But I’ll try.”

Amanda side hugged her friend.

“That’s my Lydia! Ready for any challenge!”

Lydia laughed, and she went back to enjoying her day, telling Amanda about her new movie idea.

The sun shined brightly.

Lydia felt the wind in her hair.

She was going to make this day great, no matter what!

And, with a bright smile and a bounce in her step, Lydia walked in to school, ready to face her destiny. 

To Be Continued...


	2. Not Him!/Not Her!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day continues! How will Bradley and Lydia's fates be tied together? Find out!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are at Chapter 2! Having started their day, Bradley and Lydia now must go to school! But what drama will unfold? And what will bind them together?

Lunch.

Sitting in a lonely table, looking at his dry, crusty and lame sandwich, and drinking his room temperature grape juice, Bradley can’t help but feel terrible.

Everyone else seems to be having a good time.

He sees Mort and Chad having a pleasant chat.

He sees Joni smile at a text on her phone.

He sees Mr. Drako disco dance in the hallways.

Amanda is talking about the new episode of “Cake-Splosion!” (he didn’t see that inane drivel), and next to her was…

Who was that?

Bradley honestly didn’t remember who she was.

His closed his eyes in concentration, the wheels of his mind moving.

“Brittany… Chelsea… Megan…”, he went through the name list in his head.

Then, he saw her eat her taco in super speed, like she was some kind of lion.

“Having cornered the lone Taco in its natural habitat, Mufasa unleashes his mighty chompers, and devours his prey. The circle of life… Goes on…”, Lydia narrated inside her head as she ate her Taco in frightening speed. 

H’mm. So I guess exactly like a lion.

“Ah yes. Now I remember. Lydia.”, Bradley thought, and he remembered all the little quirks of her he had seen over the years: The motor mouth, the drama queen, the overenthusiasm for… Well, everything. 

And apparently, some really gross eating habits.

He shook his head at her behavior.

“What a weirdo.”, he thought, and he began to eat his lifeless sandwich, neatly and thoroughly, leaving not a single crumb on the table.

“Still, she seemed happy”, he thought while he continued to eat in an organized manner. 

He wished he could have that.

Instead, here he was, in a boring, lonely, cold table, having nothing to do but watch others have fun.

“God, this can’t get much worse.”, Bradley thought.

Sure, Mort said look on the bright side.

But where was HIS bright side?

No one seemed to share his interests.

No one seemed to want to talk to him.

Who knows? Maybe he was interesting too!

Bradley moaned again.

It couldn’t get much worse, right?

“So, we’re hanging out at Cavendish and Dakota’s tonight?”, Zack asked.

Never mind.

It just got worse.

Bradley knew it would hurt, but he couldn’t help but look at the direction of Zack’s voice.

There, he saw Zack, looking as cool as ever, Milo, smiling that dumb smile of his and…

Melissa.

Her angelic voice.

Her breathtaking hair.

Her…

Everything.

Bradley sighed, and looked at his lost love.

He had accepted long ago that he’d never get her.

But it didn’t dull the pain that much.

“We sure are! You two knuckle heads aren’t getting rid of me!”, Melissa joked, and gave friendly noogies to Milo and Zack.

The three laughed, and Zack went off to get himself some water.

Milo and Melissa sat down next to each other.

“Want to bring cards?”, Melissa asked.

“Got a deck in my bag!”, Milo replied, only to drop the contents of his backpack onto the ground.

Melissa helped him put them back, and they sat down again.

Milo looked at his friend.

“Ready for the science project?”, Milo asked.

Melissa flashed a confident grin.

“It’s in the bag, Milo! And I am so excited! I heard a rumor it can be about anything! Anything! I’m gonna have so much fun just choosing a subject!”, she enthused, pumping a fist.

“That’s great! I hope we get to work together.”, Milo said.

Melissa smiled.

“I hope so too.”

They did their secret handshake, and laughed, not noticing where they put their hands.

Suddenly, they realized that they were pretty close to each other.

And that their hands were slightly touching.

They both blushed.

But smiled.

Yep… They were getting there.

Bradley was FURIOUS though.

Did he have to see that?

Does he not suffer enough?

“It’s not fair!”, he thought, and he didn’t notice that he was squeezing his juice box so hard now that…

SQUISH!

The juice box burst and Bradley got sprayed all over. He was soaking wet now. His shirt stuck to his chest, his skin felt sticky and smelled of artificial Grapes, and he was totally embarrassed.

EVERYONE was looking at him.

Everyone quickly turned away, though, once they realized that Bradley didn’t need the negative attention.

Not that Bradley would notice the kind act.

He was too busy bemoaning his existence.

“Of course…”, he thought. “Of course… Who else but Bradley Nicholson? Can’t be anyone else! It’s like I’ve got Murphy’s Law sometimes!”, he thought angrily as he wiped himself with some wet wipers he had in his bag.

“These won’t do. I better go to the bathroom.”, he thought, and he started to get up.

Before all this had happened, Lydia had finished her Taco.

In 33 seconds.

And it wasn’t even her record!

But, Lydia couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. Why did it not taste as good as ever?

She decided to move on, and focus on a particularly interesting spot on the wall, one that looked like Steve Buschemi, when suddenly…

SQUISH!

Bradley’s juice box had burst.

While he was cleaning himself, Lydia looked at him.

Who was that again?

She’d seen him somewhere…

“Gevork… Harrison… Jim…”, she thought, trying to remember.

WAIT!

“My diary will know!”, Lydia thought, and she took it out.

The diary was covered in glitter, smiley face stickers and motivational mantras.

She opened it and read quickly, finally reaching about a year ago.

“Oh, and alas, Amanda and I couldn’t work together on the egg project, because she and Mort were taken by…”

Lydia snapped her fingers.

“Bingo! Bradley!”, she thought.

She looked at him.

She had never… Liked Bradley.

From the little bits she knew, the little bits she heard, and the little bits she saw (little bits, mmm, she’d love some fry bits…), Bradley was a boring, conceited jerk. A real meanie.

But…

Seeing him like this made Lydia feel bad.

“He’s probably SO embarrassed.”, she thought, feeling pity for the boy.

“Maybe… I could help!”, she thought, a smile on her face. 

Yeah, help!

She loved to help others!

She walked off and approached him.

Bradley, meanwhile, was just about to go to the bathroom when…

“Hey, I’m Lydia, though, you probably know, or, well, like, maybe you don’t, since we don’t really, like, talk, actually, we don’t talk, but, that’s TOTALLY ok, since we don’t need to talk, but, like, you know, not important, anyway, I just wanted to know, if maybe, since you’re swimming in Grape Juice, not literally, but again, you know what I mean! Figures of speech are fun! Anyway, back to the subject, do you want any hel…”

But Lydia couldn’t finish her offer of care, since Bradley, embarrassed as it is, was now furious.

“What are you looking at? Come to mock me? Well, forget it! Leave me alone!”, he shouted, and he stomped towards the bathroom, his veins throbbing at the nosy girl.

Lydia just stood there, kind of shocked.

“Like, rude! What did I do? I just tried to help!”, Lydia thought, annoyed at the reply she received.

She walked back to her seat and scoffed at Bradley’s behavior.

“Fine! He doesn’t want my help, he doesn’t need it! It’s not like the kid who treats everyone like they’re beneath him deserves my help!”, she thought angrily.

While Bradley washed his face, he too had angry thoughts.

“How dare she enter my life and try to help me? If anyone needs help, it’s Ms. “I can’t, like, stop talking and being totes weird!” What am I, some kind of sob story who needs to be rescued? It was just some juice! I can take care of myself! It’s not like I’m not used to being alone!”, he thought, angry at Lydia’s nosiness.

“What a jerk!”, she thought.

“What a weirdo!”, he thought.

The two disagreed on most things, but, at that moment, there was at least one thing they did agree on:

“I hope I never have to spend time with him!”

“I hope I never have to spend time with her!”

“It’s time, children!”, Ms. Murawski announced excitedly.

It was science class, the only class in the world where the desk had an engagement ring carved into it.

Ms. Murawski, the spouse of said desk (it’s… A long story), was explaining to her students about…

“The new science project you’ll all be working on!”

Huh. Maybe I should just let her do the talking. She is the teacher!

“For the next 5 days, pairs of you will be working on any scientific subject you are interested in! The point of the project though isn’t just to learn about science…”, she explained, sitting on her desk and looking at her students.

“The point is to learn how to work with another person to achieve a common goal. Scientists (and people in general) have to work together all the time. Which is why…”

She took out a giant Bingo cage.

“I will be randomly assigning pairs! Sorry for all those who were hoping to choose!”, Ms. Murawski said, as she began to turn the cage ‘round and ‘round.

Bradley, who didn’t like where this was going, raised his hand.

“Ms. Murawski, I don’t see the point of this! Picking randomly doesn’t mean everyone will get new partners!”, he pointed out.

“True, but I don’t know all the hot gossip and secret relationships you kids have! Even if not everyone gets a new partner, some of you will! Besides… Some of you don’t need to learn how to work together, but some of you definitely do, right, Bradley?” she said with a knowing look.

Bradley lowered his head.

Darn it, she was… Sort of right.

He was never good at working with others!

Well… Hopefully it won’t be someone too bad.

Lydia, meanwhile, had lost her train of thought (about trains and how fun it would be to ride one and be in a murder mystery) when Ms. Murawski announced random partners.

“Oh no! I could, like, not get Amanda!”, she thought, and she imagined her and Amanda locked away from each other.

Never to reunite.

But through determination and a can do attitude, they managed to escape…

And become friends again.

“Ooh! Another movie idea! I’m on a roll today!”, Lydia thought, and she wrote it down.

Lydia then remembered that she probably won’t get to work with Amanda on the project.

That sucked.

But…

Maybe this was what she needed.

Amanda did say she had to find a different way of doing school work.

Maybe a new partner will help!

Hopefully it would be someone great!

Ms. Murawski took out the first two balls.

“Milo… You get Melissa.”

Milo and Melissa high fived.

This was going to be great!

Bradley raised his hands in protest.

“What a surprise! Are you laughing, god? Are you?”, he yelled.

“Bradley, please quiet down.”, Ms. Murawski said.

“Zack… You get Crystal.”

Zack gulped.

Crystal, who had written Zack’s name in a heart all over her desk, and had painted his face onto her knee, waved at him and bit her pencil.

“Hey, cutie…”, she said.

Zack hit his head on the desk. This was going to be a loooong 5 days.

“Amanda… and Chad.”

Chad leaned over next to Amanda.

“Finally! A chance to prove the government conspiracy about aliens! They say there’s only one species… But there are more… And not all of them abduct for planet saving reasons…”, he whispered ominously.

Amanda face palmed.

“Mort… And Joni.”

Mort, who was ok with whoever he got, raised his hand for a high five.

“All right, Joni!”, he said.

Joni tried to high five him back, but missed, slipped, and fell flat on her face.

“Of course…”, Joni sighed on the floor, while Mort looked down at her with concern.

“Darn it! We’re running out of supporting characters! And I doubt he’s going to say all the minor ones!”, Bradley broke the 4th wall in his mind.

“Who’s even left?”, he thought, missing the obvious direction the story was going.

Ms. Murawski took two balls out.

“…”

Bradley sweated nervously.

Lydia wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but she was biting her pencil out of stress.

Ms. Murawski cleared her throat.

“Mabel… And Sid.”

Mabel and Sid remembered that they existed and looked at each other.

Bradley and Lydia sighed in relief, forgetting that they were still in danger.

“Oh, and Lydia and Bradley.”

Lydia stood up, put a hand to her heart, and fainted.

Bradley failed to comprehend this.

“Wha?”

Lydia got back up, and looked at Bradley.

Bradley looked at Lydia.

This…

Was going to be a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG 5 days.


	3. Less Than Stellar, More Than Heartfelt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bradley and Lydia go about their first day as a team. It's... Well, you'll see.

Lydia was… Less than thrilled to be working with Bradley.

He was a jerk.

A meanie.

A conceited egotist.

But…

Fate had decided that she was to work with Bradley.

And so, Lydia decided that she would try to work with him.

She would try her hardest.

That was, after all, the Lydia way!

So, instead of moping, Lydia accepted the challenge with open arms!

Who knows?

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad!

But Bradley, who was next to his locker, was thinking the opposite of that.

“Unbelievable! Un-freaking-believable!”, he thought, angrily preparing his backpack for the study session ahead.

“Of ALL the partners… Of ALL the people… I get the crazy enthusiastic one?! She’ll drive me nuts! She’ll probably cover me with stickers and write a play about me and talk for hours on end!”, he dreaded the pain ahead.

He took a deep breath.

“Ok, Bradley… Calm down.”, he instructed himself.

“If you teach her the PROPER way to work on a project… She just might be a little less annoying. Besides… Maybe she won’t be SO bad…”, he thought, when suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed his shoulders.

“Peak a boo!”, Lydia shouted.

“AAGGH!”, Bradley screamed and he slammed his locker and leaped almost all the way to the ceiling.

“Hi, project pal! Study buddy! Test partner! Assignment aquaintence!”, Lydia greeted cheerfully.

Bradley gasped for air.

“WHY would you do such a thing? You nearly scared me half to death!”, he yelled, his eye twitching.

“Like, I doubt it was half to death. Then you’d be on the floor, gasping for air. Like this!”, and she suddenly dropped on the floor and demonstrated her impression of a dying person.

“What’s going on? I’m… I’m going… No! No!”, she screamed, causing everyone to look at them.

Bradley face palmed.

Lydia got back up like nothing had happened.

“So, yeah, something like that!”, she said cheerfully, a bright smile plastered on her face.

“Ok. Great. Look, I was…”

“So, anyway, I had a few ideas! Like, we need something interesting that will grab the audience!”, she announced, grabbing Bradley’s shirt.

“Kindly put me down.”, Bradley asked calmly.

She let him go and he fell down.

“Ow…”, he said.

“But what could we choose?”, Lydia asked, scratching her chin and walking back and forth.

“I think we shou…”, Bradley started, but Lydia was still going.

“That’s it! We could do a report about the science of water fountains! Why are they so lukewarm?”, she asked, taking a sip of the water fountain.

“Mine!”, Elliot suddenly shouted as he leaped on to the fountain.

Lydia just stared, speechless for once.

“Wait, which universe is this?”, Elliot asked, confused.

“…The regular one? Where you don’t like a random water fountain?”, Lydia volunteered an answer.

“Ah! My bad! Must have taken a wrong turn at The Jinx and The Perfectionist! I need the WTAD! Thanks for the info!”, Elliot said, and went back to his universe.

“Good luck on the inter dimensional trip!”, Lydia said and waved.

Bradley got up.

“This day is infuriatingly weird.”, he said as he brushed the dust off of his clothes.

Suddenly, he felt an odd sensation on his plant arm.

He turned around.

Lydia was watering his plant arm with some water from the fountain.

Bradley, fuming, moved away.

“What’s wrong?”, she asked.

“Don’t. Ever. Do. That. Again.”, Bradley demanded, enraged.

Lydia realized she went too far, and apologized.

“Sorry, Bradley. It just looked like it needed watering.”

Bradley calmed down.

“It’s… Fine. Just… Don’t do that again. Now, where were we…”

Lydia went right back to offering ideas, smashing into him.

“Sorry, Bradley, but it’s ok! I found a better project idea! Dimensional travel: How does it work? Ooh, that would make such a good movie: A man from another universe, Christian Slater his name, wakes up in our universe, and now must find his way back! Can he overcome the impossible odds and get back home?!”

“Not a thing.”, Bradley said.

“But that guy…”, Lydia pointed out.

“Is some nutcase. Ignore him.”, Bradley corrected.

Lydia shrugged.

“Well, ok. But what about the science of eyes? They’re the windows to the soul…”, she said mystically.

Bradley rolled his eyes.

“Souls don’t exist. And even if they did, I have no soul.”

Evil laughter could suddenly be heard.

Bradley turned around and looked to see what was there, but there was nothing.

Lydia scratched her head.

“Ok… What about airplanes?”

She pretended to fly like an airplane.

“This is your pilot speaking. On your left is a sour puss who needs to brighten up!”

She forced a smile on Bradley’s face.

“Ooh! Or maybe stars!”, she said, and she put star stickers on her and Bradley, with giddy excitement.

Bradley casually removed his.

“Ooh! Or maybe light bulbs! Why are they so bright?”, she asked.

Lydia then stopped.

“Actually, wait. That’s kind of boring. I don’t need to know the answer to that.”

Bradley raised an eye brow.

“Well, you finally slowed down. See, not every idea is great, and I think we should talk and…”

Lydia then grabbed his shirt again.

“Wait! I just got the PERFECT idea! It’s totally going to be fabulous!”, she said.

“Doubtful.”, Bradley deadpanned.

Lydia laughed.

“Come on, Bradley, give me a chance!”, she said.

Bradley moaned.

“All right. What is it?”

Lydia took him by the shoulder and moved her palm across the sky like she was presenting something.

“The science… Of love!”

Bradley looked at her.

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“I’m not! Why do people fall in love? What is the point? The purpose?”, Lydia pitched.

Bradley had to admit, it didn’t sound half bad.

“Ok… Maybe you’re on to something.”

“AND it will all be done through a dance routine! With us dressed like hearts! I’ll be cartoony heart, and you’ll be realistic heart!”, she said with blind enthusiasm.

Bradley was… Less enthusiastic.

“Heck no.”

Lydia hung her head down.

“Come on! You’re rejecting all my ideas!”, she said, a little annoyed.

“We’re not getting anywhere! And you’re not letting me come up with something!”, Bradley complained.

Lydia conceded the point. He was right, she had not let him chime in.

Bradley arranged his stuff.

“How’s about this? We go to a quiet place and choose a subject there. Then we can start planning how.”, he said.

Lydia nodded her head.

“Ok! Sounds like a plan!”

Bradley put his backpack on his shoulders.

“Ok! Now… I’d rather not take you to my place…”, he starts, but then he looks at Lydia and her messy locker that’s overflowing.

She takes out her backpack, which is also overflowing, and takes a big bite out of her chocolate bar.

“Want some?”, she offers with her mouth full.

“…But your office space will haunt my nightmares.”

Lydia laughed again.

“You know, you’re pretty funny!”, she complimented.

Bradley didn’t know how to take a compliment, so he just tried to ignore it.

“Um… Thank you… Anyway, um, even though I’d rather not, we’re going to my place.”

Lydia got up.

“Great! I just need to get some things!”, she explained, and ran off.

“Wait! I didn’t tell you where… And she’s left.”, he said to no one.

Yep.

Loooooooooooooooong 5 days.

The afternoon wind was blowing, turning the sunny day into a windy day.

With pink rain boots that had race car flames skipping through the puddles, Lydia arrived at the door step of Bradley Nicholson (knowing where it is thanks to a text from Amanda), her fully loaded backpack even more loaded now.

It was bursting at the seams, but Lydia didn’t care!

It was for important reasons!

She was still a little worried about Bradley: He seemed to have no life, no energy, no enthusiasm. Not to mention he was a bit bossy.

Was he going to turn these 5 days into a horror show?

But no!

Lydia refused to be negative!

She would turn this project into a fun experience!

No matter what!

She knocked on the door once.

“Huh. Nice acoustics.”, she thought.

She knocked again.

“Really nice!”, she thought.

She knocked three times.

Smiling, she suddenly began to knock to the tune of “Singin’ In The Rain”.

She continued to knock until she got to her favorite part, which she sang out loud.

“I’m happy again!”, she sang, and that’s when the door opened.

Bradley looked at her.

“Do you normally sing in public?”, he asked.

“Yeah. Why?”, Lydia answered matter of factly.

Bradley sighed and let her in.

The house looked as grey and lifeless as Bradley: The lights were off, giving an eerie and lonesome vibe. The house was pretty empty, with only the bare essentials.

Lydia entered and started to look around.

Bradley was already going up the stairs.

“Less snooping, more working!”, he said as he made his way up the wooden steps, which creaked with every movement.

Lydia followed him, but not before noticing a picture of Bradley and his parents hanging off a wall.

A man in a sharp, grey business suit and a grey hat and a woman dressed similarly with a suitcase and an umbrella.

They gave an old timey vibe, like two business minded parents from the 1950’s.

Bradley was there too, dressed in his usual outfit.

Everyone kept their hands to themselves.

There was no touching.

No laughter.

No life emanated from the picture.

Not even a single smile could be seen.

It was…

Empty.

Lydia felt sad.

She wondered…

What that made Bradley feel?

Finally, they made their way upstairs.

Bradley sat by his desk.

“Welcome to my room. Mi Casa is definitely not Su Casa. Please be careful.”

Lydia looked around at the empty room.

“With what?”, she asked.

Bradley realized that she was right.

“Um… Just be careful.”, he brushed off the thought and booted up his computer.

Lydia sat on the floor next to him.

Bradley realized he had no second chair.

He felt a little ashamed.

This was no way to treat a guest.

“I’m sorry for the lack of… Sitting options. You can…”, he looked around and realized there was no other option.

“I guess you can take the bed.”, he relented.

“Ooh!”, Lydia said, and went over to the bed.

“At least take me out to dinner first…”, she joked.

Bradley blushed from this.

But…

It was also kind of funny.

He chuckled for a second.

Lydia sat on the bed.

It was…

Not very comfortable.

“Woah! Hard bed!”, she remarked.

“Yeah, well, it does the job, so it doesn’t have to be too soft.”, Bradley explained.

Bradley turned to her in his chair.

“Ok. So we’re nearing the end of our first day. And we still have no subject.”

Lydia nodded, listening intently.

“Now, I’d rather choose myself, but you are my… Partner in this. So… Let’s try to think of a subject that gurantees an A+.”

“AND one that entertains!”, Lydia added.

“Yes, that too.”, Bradley said, but he didn’t really mean it. He was more focused on finding the RIGHT subject, less about pleasing the masses.

“So… Let’s see…”, he started, and leafed through his brain, looking for ideas.

“Maybe we could…”

Thunk ka thunk!

“What was that?”, Bradley thought.

Thunk ka thunk!

He turned around.

Lydia was doing cartwheels.

Bradley was shocked.

“What on earth are you doing?”, he asked.

Lydia, mid cartwheel, answered.

“Cartwheels.”

Bradley gave her a dry look.

“News flash: I’m not dumb.”

He tried again.

“Why are you doing this?”, he asked, a little impatient.

“Because I’m trying to get my brain moving! I need to think up ideas too, you know.”, she said, and she stood upright and knocked at the sides of her head to get her brain started.

For the life of him Bradley couldn’t understand this.

But again, he found himself chuckling for a second.

She was odd, that’s for sure.

But that was… Oddly endearing.

“Well? Do you have any ideas?”, he asked.

“Zilch.”, she replied.

Bradley massaged his temples.

“What are we going to do?”

Lydia went over to him and cupped his face in her hands.

“Cheer up, Bradley! If we keep trying, we’ll think of something! We’ve barely begun! We can’t give up now!”, she encouraged.

“True, but what can we do? I can’t think of anything that could make a good report. Mammoths? Elements? Plants? None of this is going to ace this test!”, he complained, and sunk into his chair.

“Does it have to ace the test? Why can’t we do something more… Entertaining?”, she asked.

“Entertaining doesn’t cut it! We need a guaranteed A+! Not a show tune!”, he complained.

“What’s so bad about show tunes?”, Lydia asked, insulted.

“Um, they don’t get A+’s, that‘s what!”, Bradley said.

“You don’t have to be such a jerk!”, Lydia shouted.

“You don’t have to be so different!”, Bradley shouted.

“It should be fun!”

“It should be serious!”

They calmed down.

Fighting would get them nowhere.

Bradley didn’t apologize, but he did say this.

“Look, fighting won’t help. We’ll have to compromise in a way. Just please think of something!”

Lydia thought.

And then she took out her bag.

“I have an idea!”, she said encouragingly, and she emptied her bag on the desk.

A ton of Knick Knacks, more knick knacks than one could fathom fell from the bag.

Bradley was surprised.

“What the heck? What’s all this?”, he asked, annoyed.

Lydia started placing them on the desk.

“They’re my knick knacks! Or good luck charms, if you will.”, she answered and she looked proudly at her handiwork.

Bradley looked at her with doubt.

“And this will help us how?”, he asked.

“Sometimes, you need a good mood. This place is, pardon me, bleak and depressing and just ugh!”, Lydia explained. “But these, like, totally lighten the mood!”

She then picked up a bobble head of a fat man with a cigar.

“Check some of them out! This one I call Big Lou! He’s an old timey newspaper editor with the temper of a bull, but the heart of a lion! He sees his staff as his family, and takes care of them through his quiet, but affectionate love! Whenever I see him, I feel the love he has for his staff directed at me!”

She then took out an action figure.

“This is a Spider-Man figure I got when I was little. He’s… A little broken, as you can see, but he’s still the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man he’s always been! After getting bit by a radioactive spider, Peter Parker got the abilities of a human spider! But an irresponsible use of his powers led to the death of his beloved uncle/father figure, Ben Parker. Since then, he vowed to be a good man. He reminds me that with Great Power, there must also come, Great Responsibility!”, she explained and she pretended to make him thwip his webs around before landing him on the desk.

Finally, she took out her favorite.

“And this… Is Reggie! He’s a cactus with sunglasses who waves! When I see him…”

“Let me guess, he reminds you of the sweltering heat that the planet will soon be overtaken with, and you must always recycle?”, Bradley asked.

“No! He just makes me smile! Isn’t he cute and funny?”, she asked.

Bradley shrugged.

“Not really my kind of thing. Sorry, Lydia. Sorry, Freddie.”

“Reggie”, Lydia corrected.

“Whatever.”, he remarked.

Lydia looked at Bradley with anticipation.

“So? Isn’t this making you feel better?”, she asked.

“No. It’s not. Besides, I don’t have a need for knick knacks.”, he said, frustrated with the wasting of time.

Lydia frowned. She then noticed something else…

“Wait, what’s this?”, she pointed at the snow globe.

Bradley’s eyes widened.

“Stay away from that!”, he said, shoving Lydia aside and caressing his globe.

Lydia realized that the globe held a significance in Bradley’s heart.

“It’s very important to me, ok? Please do not…”

“I understand. I won’t ask.”, Lydia said, trying to make Bradley understand that she respected his privacy.

Bradley silently appreciated the gesture.

“Well… This isn’t getting us anywhere.”

Lydia looked at the time.

“And I need to get home pretty soon.”, she admitted.

“Great! Just great!”, Bradley lamented, and he kicked his chair, getting hurt again.

“Why do you even have to go?”, he asked, ticked off.

Lydia looked a little guilty. The day was lost, and it was kind of her fault.

“I have to help my parents make dinner. You know, we love eating together every night, so I can’t be late. You know what I mean, right?”, she asked, hoping Bradley would understand she wasn’t trying to sabotage their efforts.

Bradley wished he could understand.

“It’s… Ok. Maybe after some sleep we’ll…”

Suddenly, a loud noise was heard.

“What was that?”, Lydia asked.

Bradley knew…

And hung his head in shame.

He was so exposed next to this girl.

He didn’t want to say…

But he also knew that she’d ask again.

And…

Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to be open.

“It’s… My stomach. I’m a little famished.”, he explained, his cheeks flushing from the utter embarrassment.

Lydia digested this information…

And laughed.

“Why are you laughing?”, Bradley demanded to know, even more furious.

“What’s so bad about being hungry, silly? Come on, let me help.”, she said, and she ran downstairs.

“What are you doing?”, he asked, following her and tripping down the stairs.

“Ow, ow, ow!”, he said as he fell.

He was about to smash his head on the floor, only for Lydia to catch him.

“I’ve got you.”, she said, smiling.

Bradley looked up at her.

Was this…

What friendship felt like?

“No, Bradley! Don’t fool yourself! She was just doing the obvious, decent thing.”, he told himself.

But…

It still felt nice to be saved.

Lydia straightened him up and ran into the kitchen.

“You still haven’t answered my quarry.”, Bradley reminded.

“Here’s my quarry: Who says quarry in this day and age?”, Lydia retorted.

Bradley went in and saw that Lydia was taking things out of the fridge.

“I don’t recall saying you can do this.”

Lydia started to cut a tomato at super speed.

“Why ask? You’d say no.”, she explained.

Darn, she got him!

Lydia then started to cook the bacon strips.

“I didn’t even know we have bacon.”, Bradley stated.

“Pass me the lettuce please.”, she instructed. “Ooh, that could also be a movie! Two different people open up a restaurant! Can they overcome the critics and each other, or will their dream fall flat on its face? Can artistic and serious ever work together?”

Bradley usually listened to himself.

But for once, he let himself go with the flow, and helped put the lettuce in.

Lydia was messy, with crumbs left next to the sink, tomato juice covering the cutting board and the bag of lettuce not put back in the fridge.

But…

Bradley took a bite.

He had never enjoyed the sandwiches his parents made.

Yet…

This one tasted…

“Holy cow! This is… Great!”, Bradley remarked after taking his bite and swallowing.

What he said.

Lydia beamed.

“You’re welcome!”, she said.

Bradley realized he forgot to thank her.

“Thank you… Really. But… Why?”, he asked.

“Why not?”, was Lydia’s reply.

She looked at the time.

“OHMYGOD! I’m gonna be late! Sorry, Bradley, I have to run!”, Lydia said, and she started for the door.

Bradley stopped her.

“Wait!”

Lydia stopped and turned around.

Bradley looked a little less… Depressed.

“Listen… I know this day was… Unproductive. But… You’re right. We can’t give up. Maybe it’s just taking us some time to come up with something. But tomorrow… We will. I don’t know how… But we will.”, he said determinedly.

Lydia smiled.

“That’s the spirit, Bradley!”, she said.

She shook his hand and left.

She had to admit… He didn’t seem so bad.

And he had to admit… She didn’t seem so bad too.

He took another bite.

He wondered why it was so good.

He didn’t notice the key difference:

His parent’s sandwiches weren’t made with love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How Will Bradley and Lydia's Second Day Fare? Stay Tuned!


	4. Nearly Dying Twice Could Help Advance Things!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bradley and Lydia try to choose a subject. Needless to say...

Day 2.

Saturday.

The Natural History Museum.

Home to many exhilarating exhibits and astounding artifacts!

That is where Bradley and Lydia met the next day to find a subject for their project.

But things were still not going so well.

“This is rose quartz. It is fabled for its abilities to purify the heart, but of course, that is pure poppycock!”, Bradley lectured to Lydia.

“Yeah…”, Lydia said, bored, resting her head on her hand.

Bradley moved to the dinosaur.

“And this is a full sized Dinosaur!”, he presented.

Lydia looked up with interest.

“Woah! Awesome!”, she said.

Bradley then moved right past it.

“It was a creature that ate and killed. That’s about it.”

Lydia moved next to him.

“But what else can you tell me? What about its sharp talons, that could tear through flesh itself? Or it’s long tail, that could trip enemies from under their feet? Or it’s mighty roar, that made its prey tremble with fear?”, she asked, and she imitated a roar.

A museum guide walked by.

“Shh!”, he said.

“Sorry.”, Bradley apologized, and gave Lydia a stare.

“Whoops!”, Lydia said.

“Shh!”, went the guide.

“Whoops.”, Lydia whispered.

“Lydia, we don’t need to add all those details. A few facts will suffice.”, Bradley explained.

Lydia rolled her eyes.

“But this is boring! Why can’t we choose a subject and delve into the guts of it all? Why must we be so… Boring?”, she asked.

Bradley scoffed.

“There’s nothing boring about the way I explain things. Now… Ooh, check out this fossil!”, he said and looked intently at a fossil of a leaf.

Lydia noticed a change in Bradley: He actually looked passionate for a moment.

His eyes sparkled as he observed the simple, elegant beauty of the relic before him.

“Wow… He seems so absorbed now. Without saying anything, he’s got me interested about that fossil.”, she thought.

She moved next to him, Bradley still gawking at the fossil.

“What can you tell me about it?”, she asked, genuinely interested.

Bradley suddenly immediately reverted to his boring monotone.

“It’s a fossil from the cretaceous period. That’s all there is to it.”

He walked away.

Lydia groaned.

“I’m gonna check out the gift shop.”, she told him.

“Come back quickly! We need to choose a subject!”, Bradley reminded her.

Lydia only intended to make a quick trip to the gift shop, just to get a cutesy key chain, nothing else.

She definitely didn’t plan on falling underground.

But life doesn’t always go according to plan.

“Aaagh!”, she screamed as she fell.

She landed on a strange terrain.

One might go even as far as to say it was…

Sub-terranius.

Bradley walked in.

“Lydia, the guide is giving me a dirty look. Please be quiet or we’ll be kicked…”, he started, only to fall.

“OOOUUUUUUTTTTT!”, He screamed, and he fell down, only to be held by Lydia.

“You ok?”, she asked.

Bradley got off.

“Perfectly fine. What’s going on?”, he asked.

“We fell.”

“I know!”, he said, in an annoyed tone. “My question is: Where are we?”

“Why, you’re in Sub-Terrainus!”, a voice from the shadows called.

The shadow came out to reveal Scott The Undergrounder.

“People from the overland! How exciting!”, Scott said, and he shook their hands.

“So weird!”, Bradley and Lydia said, though the latter was excited and the former was just weirded out.

“What a movie idea! A man who lives underground! I, like, totally need to know your backstory!”, Lydia asked, excited about this odd man.

Scott took out Mildred.

“Say hi, Mildred!”, he said.

“That man is talking to a milk carton.”, Bradley said, disturbed.

“Oh come on! It’s not that weird!”, Lydia said.

Scott started making out with Mildred.

“I’m sorry, it is weird.”, Lydia apologized.

“Let’s get out of here.”, Bradley said.

“Oh, but you must stay for the flood!”, Scott said.

“The… Flood?”, Bradley and Lydia said and looked back to see a flood of sewage water crash at them.

Scott suddenly realized that the kids were in danger.

“Oh no! We must help them! Come on, Mildred! To my new ship!”, Scott ordered, and he ran with his carton.

Bradley and Lydia were being swept away by the flood.

Bradley was panicking, and because of this, he was flailing and nearly drowning in the dirty water.

“I’m going to die! I’m going to die in a sewer! I mean, come on!”, Bradley wailed, and he sputtered out sewer water.

“Why did you have to go to the gift shop? We could have thought of something?!”, he shouted.

“You were so boring! It needs to be a fun project!”

Lydia tried to swim through the muck.

They nearly got smashed into a wall.

Wrestling through the waste, Lydia finally climbed onto the side.

She took a deep breath, and then gagged from the smell.

Suddenly, she could see the weird guy and his boat.

“I’m coming, overlanders! Hold on tight!”, he called, concerned for their wellbeing.

Lydia then noticed a vine hanging from the top of the sewer.

“That’s totally unrealistic… But helpful!”, she commented.

She turned to Bradley.

“Bradley, hold my hand!”, she yelled.

“What?”, he asked, confused. He was still struggling in the muck.

“Hold my hand! Listen, I can see that weird guy from before approaching with a boat! If you hold on to me, I’ll swing on this conveniently placed vine and get us to safety!”, she explained.

“That’s so crazy! What if we get hurt?”, he asked.

“We don’t have any other choice! Just trust me, ok? I know that this is pretty spontaneous and different, but you have to give me a chance!”, she said.

Bradley hesitated…

But he took her hand.

Lydia held him tightly.

“Hold on tight!”, she said.

She held the vine and swung through the air.

Lydia let out a Tarzan yell.

She had always wanted to do that.

Bradley just screamed.

He had never wanted to do that.

They landed on the boat, where Scott quickly guided them to safety.

“Great job, kid! I was really worried!”, Scott said.

He opened a sewer top.

“You are free to go! Come back to visit!”, Scott waved.

“I heavily doubt I will!”, Bradley said.

Scott closed the top and left.

Bradley and Lydia tried to relax after the crazy escapade they just had.

“Well… My turn!”, Lydia announced.

Bradley looked at her, surprised.

“What do you mean, your turn?”, he asked.

“Well, we went to the museum and we got no ideas. I think it’s my turn to choose a place!”, Lydia explained.

Bradley wasn’t thrilled about this idea, but he decided to relent.

She did just save his life and make him a sandwich.

He could let her have this.

“But first… Let’s get washed up.”, Bradley said.

Lydia nodded.

“I’ll meet you at your house after I finish, and we’ll go to my location!”

“Which is?”, Bradley asked.

An hour and a half later…

“Lard World!”, Lydia announced, her arms spread wide as she showed the park off like it was hers.

Bradley couldn’t believe his eyes.

“THIS is your idea? What are we possibly going to find here?”, he asked, incredulous.

“Look, our project needs to be fun! We need to enjoy it, or there’s no point!”, she explained.

“There’s much to be enjoyed in simple, to the point factual research.”, Bradley retorted.

Lydia dragged him in.

“Come on! Give it a try! What if I know what I’m doing?”, Lydia asked.

“Do you really want me to answer that?”, Bradley said, but he let her have this one.

Who knows?

Maybe they’d find something.

“Look! There’s a merry go round!”, she said. “Maybe we could teach about motion!”

Bradley thought.

“Not a bad idea. Maybe that co…”

But there Lydia went, again too enthusiastic and excited to focus on one thing at a time. She rode on it for a minute, and then leaped onto the bumper cars.

“Or maybe we could learn about force! Whee!”, she said.

Bradley shook his head.

She had… Fine ideas, but she lacked structure.

And she had no idea that she did.

Lydia then crashed into a car with Doofenshmirtz in it.

He got a parking ticket.

“You know, that hardly seems fair. She initiated the crash! Actually, why am I being given a ticket in the first place? It’s unconstitutional, that’s what it is!”

Monogram and Carl passed in their own car.

“Honestly, you should sue!”, Monogram admitted.

“You know what? I will! You don’t happen to know a lawyer, right?”, Doof asked.

Perry popped out and showed off his lawyers degree.

“Thank you, Perry The Platypus!”, Doof replied.

Lydia then ran into the hall of mirrors.

“Or how about optical illusions? Those are fun! Tell me: Why do our eyes see things that aren’t there? Is it possible that we see what we want? Or is it a reflection of our souls?”, she said, and she ran through the hall.

Bradley had to admit, that DID sound interesting.

Lydia had a knack for seeing deep meaning in so much.

It was… Different.

But interesting.

Bradley looked at his reflection.

He still looked hideous in his eyes.

“Lydia, look… We need a subject, and if you keep moving from one idea to the next, we’ll never choose…”, Bradley tried to point out, but Lydia didn’t listen.

“Or maybe we could learn about sugar!”, she said, and she ate some cotton candy.

“Or maybe about butter!”, and she ate a tub of popcorn.

“Or maybe about hot dogs!”, and she bought three.

“You shouldn’t eat so much.”, Bradley said.

“Oh, come on! What’s the worst that could…”

Cut to Lydia throwing up into a wastebasket.

Bradley stood with his back to her.

“You ok?”, he asked, his voice sounding sympathetic.

“Yep… I’m fine…”, Lydia said, and then brightened up immediately.

“Bradley… I have the perfect idea!”, she said.

Bradley sighed.

“Will this one last more than 5 seconds?”, he asked.

“Yep! ‘Cause we’re going to “Greased Thunder”!”, she announced excitedly and pointed at the roller coaster.

For the life of him Bradley couldn’t remember why the place sounded familiar.

But, since rollercoasters, as Lydia said, were an interesting project, and since Bradley didn’t see any problem with it, the two embarked on the ride.

Lydia strapped herself, and bounced on her seat.

“I can’t wait! Greased Thunder! Greased Thunder! Greased Thunder!”, she cheered.

Bradley, sitting to her right, tried to calm her down.

“Lydia, calm down! This is a rollercoaster! You can’t just jump around all willy nilly! You could get…”

Suddenly, something caught Bradley’s eyes.

It was a board with pictures taped to it, or, according to the sign, “The Best Pictures Taken of Greased Thunder”.

Bradley snorted. “I highly doubt that.”

But then, he saw something that utterly changed his mood.

The picture in the middle was of Milo and Melissa…

The day they went to Greased Thunder.

Why did this change Bradley’s mood?

Because he remembered seeing it in the news…

Around a year ago…

Bradley, sitting on his couch, watching the news.

“And in other news, “Greased Thunder”, the fabled rollercoaster of “Lard World”, home of Lardee Boy, official mascot of “Lard World”, beloved by children everywhere! No, I am not his agent! Anyway, “Greased Thunder” has went through a terrible accident involving local children Milo Murphy and Melissa Chase. The coaster will not be fixed properly though. All the funds went to something else, it seems.”

Cut to the mayor’s office.

“Sir, can we finally fix the giant hole in the road? More and more people are falling into it. I think the public is getting suspicious.”

The mayor, with a room full of rubber ducks.

“But… Rubber duckies!”, The Mayor protested.

“That news anchor was definitely Lardee Boy’s agent.”, Bradley thought, but then he remembered something much more important.

“WE’RE ON A DEATH TRAP!!!!”, he screamed, and he tried to get off.

“What are you talking about?”, Lydia asked, failing to believe the boy.

The rollercoaster started to climb up.

“DO YOU NOT REMEMBER THAT MILO AND MELISSA WERE ON THIS ONE ONCE?”, Bradley asked, still panicking.

“Yeah, so?”, Lydia asked.

“Look at the middle of the track!!!!!!!!!!!”, Bradley pointed at the direction he was referring to.

Lydia looked.

Massive parts were missing, the loop de loops were on fire, and a ramp at the end of the rollercoaster meant that they’d have to do it again.

Lydia waved this off.

“Be positive, Bradley! I’m sure everything is going to be…”

The rollercoaster dropped, speeding through the track like a freight train.

“OKAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”, Lydia screamed.

The coaster began to loop de loop.

“OK… I’M POSITIVE… THAT WE’RE… GOING TO… DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”, Bradley screamed as they passed each loop.

Their hair was on fire.

“Lydia, for the record, I blame you for my untimely death!”, Bradley shouted as they passed through the pig’s heart.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”, Lydia kept shouting.

The coaster neared the end, before it would go up the ramp and back to the beginning.

“I, Bradley Nicholson, leave all my earthly possessions to my friend, Mort Schaeffer. Melissa can have my family portrait, to remember me, and Lydia…”

“Yes?”, she asked.

“You’re getting nothing but my absolute contempt! You’ve killed me!”, he shouted.

Lydia hung her head in shame.

Bradley pondered.

“…Ok, you can have my office space. I’m sure you could do something with that.”

Lydia cheered.

“Yay! I got something!”

As the coaster started again, and Lydia started to ramble about her plans for her funeral, Bradley started concocting a plan:

He had noticed the lever that could automatically stop the rollercoaster. It seemed intact.

It was a bit of a long shot, but if they called out to the operator, he’d pull it.

He explained his short and simple plan to Lydia.

“That might be the most boring rescue plan I’ve ever heard!”, Lydia complained.

“Is it boring not to die?”, Bradley asked.

Lydia had to admit, he had a point.

“Just trust me, ok?”, Bradley asked.

Lydia hesitated…

But she gave him a chance.

They called out to the operator, he noticed, and they lived.

“See? It was a “boring” rescue, (not really, but whatever) and we’re alive!”, Bradley said.

Lydia nodded, and walked over to one of those carnival games where you throw a ball at some bottles and win a prize.

She threw the three balls like crazy and missed the bottles.

She didn’t miss a button that dunked a clown into a swimming pool, a glass Eiffel Tower and Bradley’s head.

Lydia pouted.

She stunk in these games.

Bradley moved next to her.

“You know why you missed?”, he asked.

“Because this game is rigged!”, Lydia answered.

“…No.”, Bradley flatly replied.

He took a ball, put it in her hand, and directed her arm.

“You throw too wildly. You need to focus, aim, and release. Not just blast it into the sky.”

Lydia tried to follow his advice.

“So why don’t you do this?”, she asked.

Bradley sheepishly scratched his head.

“I know how to do it, in theory. In practice… Not so much.”

Lydia smiled.

“Well, I guess I’m playing for the both of us.”

Bradley smiled.

“Ok.”

Lydia normally would have thrown with her eyes closed and her fingers crossed.

Instead, she decided to give Bradley’s advice a try.

She focused…

She aimed…

She looked at Bradley, who, for once in his life, decided to encourage someone else.

He flashed a thumbs up.

She winked at him.

She took a deep breath…

And threw…

Evening.

The Ice Cream Place.

Milo and Melissa’s favorite, the one which they went to the very first day they met, and the one which solidified their friendship.

In this very place, Bradley could be seen moping with his ice cream.

It had been…

A very unproductive day.

Nothing was working.

Everything had gone wrong.

They had about 3 days left, and still no subject, let alone any written paper!

Oh, and a Giraffe was staring right at him.

“Come on, Bradley! Turn the frown upside down!”, the Giraffe asked with a silly voice.

“You can’t talk. But your operator most certainly can, to my grave misfortune.”, he remarked.

Lydia put the giraffe aside.

“Come on, Bradley! Why are you so down in the dumps?”, she asked, while taking a spoonful of her bowl of 5 balls of different kinds of chocolate with chocolate syrup, sprinkles, banana, cherry and an umbrella.

“Why wouldn’t I be? We still have no subject for our project! We have no written paper! We have nothing! Nada! Zilch! A big fat F- is in my future!”, Bradley whined, and looked genuinely sad as he took a bite from his plain 1 scoop vanilla bowl.

Lydia stopped smiling.

He was right.

They had not taken a single step forwards.

Not a single positive advancement had happened.

What were they going to do?

“I’m, like, totally sorry, Bradley. I didn’t mean to… I was just trying to… I guess… Maybe… I thought… But well I didn’t… Or did I… Whatever… Look… I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to ruin our project.”, she stammered.

She looked genuinely sorry.

Despite his frustrations, though, Bradley couldn’t help but feel that part of this…

Was his fault.

“I guess… It’s unfair to impart ALL the blame on you…”, he looked at her soft, sad, cute face.

Her shining brown eyes.

Her face, even when sad, still had some of that glow that she always seemed to eminate.

Her wavy hair, that looked oh so wonderful.

Darn…

If he was truly honest…

He had to share the blame.

After all…

He had been as difficult as her.

He had blocked ideas, been difficult, and had been a bad partner.

He normally would have defended himself.

But something about this girl…

Made him want to be honest.

“This is my fault as well. I… Haven’t been the best partner too.”

He looked a little ashamed.

“And… I’m sorry… For not thanking you… For saving my life earlier…Thank you…”, he said.

Lydia also looked ashamed.

“You saved my life too… So thank you too…”

The two exchanged glances.

While it sucked to be in this situation…

At least things between them weren’t so bad.

They smiled at each other.

Lydia then noticed the weird way in which Bradley ate his ice cream: He took a small bite and then wiped his mouth with a napkin. And then he cleaned the spoon with a napkin.

It was weirdly elegant.

But endearing all the same.

“But I still wish we had a subject.”, Lydia said sadly as she ate her ice cream.

Bradley sighed, and looked out the window.

He saw a sign that said “Compromised Yourself? Good! You deserved it!”.

He saw a secret agent pass by.

“I’ve compromised myself! Abort mission! Abort mission!”

2 giant bananas led the agent to an armored car and drove off.

Bradley looked at his ice cream.

Words formed in it.

“Compromise with her, stupid!”, it said.

Bradley looked at the screen.

“My ice cream is a little pushy, isn’t it?”, he asked.

But then, he got it.

“My ice cream is right!”, Bradley thought.

He then realized that he just thought that.

“Wow… What is happening to my life?”, he thought again.

But he did get it.

He and Lydia had to compromise. To work together to come up with a subject.

“Lydia?”, he asked.

Lydia was scarfing down her ice cream.

“Mmm?”, she asked, a mouth full of chocolaty goodness.

Bradley couldn’t stop a small smile from spreading on his face.

She had ice cream all over her.

“She’s so weird…”, he thought, but not necessarily in judgment.

“I think I know what we need to do.”, Bradley said.

He straightened his glasses.

“We need a subject… And we need to choose together… Because…”, he took a deep breath.

It wasn’t easy for him to admit he was wrong.

But thankfully, Lydia had already understood.

She grasped his hands.

He blushed.

“Because we’re partners.”, she smiled.

Despite their differences, they had been making some real progress.

Not with the test.

But with their relationship.

Bradley felt his heart beat loudly.

And it reminded him of a subject Lydia had mentioned yesterday.

“That’s it!”, he cried.

“What?”, Lydia asked.

“The science of love! What you said yesterday!”, he said, excited that they were making a break through.

“It’s something easy to write about, and it’s something we both like! Well, you like, but still!”, he continued.

He hadn’t been this happy in ages.

Lydia was thrilled.

“YES! I, like, totally knew this was a good idea! And hey! If we continue like this… Maybe we can be good partners, partner.”

“Not maybe.”

Bradley extended his hand.

“We WILL be good partners.”

Lydia smiled.

And they shook hands.


	5. Just When I Was Beginning To Like You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bradley and Lydia seem to have it all figured out!
> 
> ...
> 
> Or do they?

“So it’s going well?”, Amanda asked, surprised.

“Yep! It’s going bingo bongo, super duper, fantastic! We were a little touch and go for a while, make that a lot touch and go, like, not touch and go but slam and run in super speed, and we were clashing and all that, but then, rising action came in and we started to bond, sort of. I learned crucial backstory details about him through not so subtle expositional narration and slightly subtle expositional dialogue, then after some light moments and some fights, I made him a sandwich because he was angry, an early friendship moment of kindness, which allowed us to have a first real soft moment. Then, we went through some events that rose the tension even more, until we got to a climax of rollercoasters and sewer floods! The plot thickened massively, as we both almost died twice, but thanks to our character strengths overcoming our character flaws, we managed to work together, foreshadowing that all we need to do is get along, and then, in the falling action, we bonded in the ice cream place, and we realized we just need to get along (as was foreshadowed through big and small events), and here we are, now, working together! So, it’s denounment time! Even though it’s weird that it’s happening with 3 whole days left. Usually, the drama is kept ‘till the last minute. H’mm.”, Lydia raved on the phone, walking back and forth in her room, dressed in her PJ’s, which are white and blue, covered with star stickers.

Amanda laughed on her side.

“Well, it’s good to know that your script is ending well!”, Amanda said.

“How about you, bestest best friend?”, Lydia asked.

Amanda sighed.

“It’s been… Interesting.”, Amanda said.

She was still working with Chad, who was hosting his conspiracy radio show live right now while Amanda did all the real work.

“He still hasn’t experienced character development, huh? Guess the author isn’t too interested in Chad.”, Lydia commented.

“Lydia, life isn’t some kind of AU of a Television show by a weirdo who has too much time on his hands and really likes to delve into character, drama, and romance before it all leads into some kind of MCU climax.”, Amanda said.

And of course, she was right!

Cough cough.

“What about the others?”, Lydia asked.

“Well, I don’t know about the others, but I understood things are normal for Milo and Melissa!”, Amanda reported.

Cut to Milo and Melissa hanging off cables as they write down details about the volcanic activity from the volcano they are hanging above.

Cavendish and Dakota are riding the helicopter that is carrying them.

“How is it going, children?”, Cavendish asked through the noise of the blades.

“It’s going great, Cavendish!”, Milo and Melissa called back.

“Well, I’m happy for them!”, Lydia said brightly.

“I must say… I’m surprised that it’s working between you and Bradley.”, Amanda admitted.

“As I said, it took us a while, but we’re basically BFFs now!”, Lydia said happily.

“Well, good night, Lydia!”, Amanda said.

“Good night, Amanda! Don’t work too late now, ok?”, Lydia said, knowing all too well how her friend would exhaust herself if she wasn’t told to rest.

“I won’t. Promise.”, Amanda replied, and she hung up.

After getting kissed good night by her parents (so what if she was 14? She still liked it!), Lydia was already in bed, hugging her new Giraffe doll (which she had yet to give a name to. Maybe Geoffrey?) and getting ready for a cozy night.

As she pulled her night sky blanket over her and prepared to shut her Spider-Man lamp off, she remembered how hard Bradley’s bed was.

“That thing hurt!”, she thought, chuckling for a second.

Then, it hit her.

“Bradley is going to bed in that terrible thing again. And if I’m right… His parents aren’t going to be very cozy themselves.”, Lydia thought, and she felt a twinge of sadness.

Suddenly, an idea came upon her, and with a swift motion of her hands, she grabbed her phone and started to write a text…

“Another night… Another disappointment.”, Bradley thought to himself as he covered himself and tried in vain to get comfortable on his terrible bed.

Not only was he again sleeping in this hunk of junk, not only was dinner a silent affair again, but his parents had forgotten to say good night.

Again.

Yes, true, he was 14.

But man, would it be the end of the world if he received some love and affection?

Bradley felt a familiar wetness in his eye.

He wiped it quickly.

He didn’t have time for this.

He started to close his eyes when…

BZZT!

Beethoven’s Fifth began to play from his phone.

“Who on earth could that be?”, he thought as he put his glasses back on and reeled back from the bright light shining from his phone.

It was from Lydia.

“Ok…”, he thought, as he opened the newly formed text history from her.

It was a simple message.

Just 2 words.

And for most people, 2 words wouldn’t mean anything.

Heck, for most people, those 2 specific words would mean nothing at all.

But to Bradley…

They meant the world.

The little bubble of dialogue did more to his heart than every “hug” and “kiss” he had received from his parents.

For that little bubble said this:

Lydia:

“Good Night!”

Bradley wasn’t sure what to do at first.

But it didn’t take long for Lydia’s phone to buzz too.

She picked it up.

Bradley:

“Good night to you, too!”

In two separate houses, two very different people did the exact same thing.

They smiled.

Day 3.

The Museum of Love.

Which the author totally didn’t invent, by the way.

Ahem.

Anyway, Bradley and Lydia were present and accounted for in the museum, ready and willing to ace this test!

“Did you bring all the things I told you to bring?”, he asked.

Lydia pulled out her bag and emptied its contents all over the floor.

“Yes I did!”

Bradley sighed, but picked up what they needed amongst the pile of things that were most definitely unneeded.

“Ok, let’s go in and get this report done!”, he said, and they walked in.

The museum was filled with many exhibits and shows: Pictures of loving couples, diagrams on the chemical nature of attraction, and lectures on the importance of a healthy relationship in order for procreation to be a success.

And there was a gift shop! With key chains!

KEY CHAINS!

Even Bradley was impressed, and he let out an impressed whistle.

“This place ain’t half bad!”, he said.

Lydia was hopping with excitement.

“And with all this information, we’ll have this report done in no time!”

They went off and listened to some lectures, read up on some diagrams and analyzed all the info they could find.

The two were taking their own notes though, Lydia’s long, detailed, emotional, but all over the place, Bradley’s simple, well put, but lacking in feeling and detail.

Still, they were getting along so far, and they were making some sort of progress.

They had already been there for a few hours, and they were nearing the end of their trip.

Bradley was practically beaming.

“I feel so fulfilled! It took us a while, but we’re really cruising now! Heck, we’ll probably be able to take tomorrow off!”, Bradley said with glee.

Lydia began to do her victory dance.

“Aw yeah! Team Bradlydia to the win!”, she tried to high five him.

“What?”, Bradley asked.

“I was trying to think of a team name for us. But our names don’t really mesh for that kind of thing.”, Lydia admitted.

“It’s not important.”, Bradley said, shaking his head at her dumb behavior.

“And again, Bradley kills the fun.”, Lydia grumbled quietly.

Suddenly, Lydia noticed a ball.

She threw it and it hit Bradley on the head.

“Ow! What was that for?”, he asked, annoyed.

Lydia jumped from foot to foot, laughing.

“Throw it at me! Let’s throw the ol’ pig skin around! Let’s toss that round object a bit! Let’s loosen up!”

Bradley raised an eyebrow.

Lydia raised her hands in protest.

“Come on, Bradley! We worked hard! We can take a break!”

Bradley normally liked to just finish his work.

Hanging out with someone outside of a project was…

Not his forte.

But something inside him told him this was right.

He tossed the ball to her.

She caught it.

She threw it and he caught it, with a bit of a leap.

“Nice throw!”, he said, smiling.

“Nice catch!”, she complimented.

They kept throwing it around, adding little tricks after every throw.

Lydia then prepared her best throw yet.

“All star quarter back Brandon “Moose” Pakowski readies his arm! He’s going for the 188 yard touchdown here, never before attempted in human history! He throws it long and high in the air for his wide receiver Gene “The Mean Machine” Russo!”, she said, and she threw it high and long into the air.

Bradley chuckled at this description and ran as fast as he could.

“I’ve got it! I’ve got it!”, he said, and he ran…

…And tripped on a branch, falling headfirst into some mud.

“Bradley!”, Lydia yelped in fright and ran after him.

Bradley was still in the mud, and he was oddly silent.

Lydia looked extremely remorseful.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt you! It was a total accident! Stupid Lydia! Stupid, stupid, stupid!”, she said, and she hit herself a couple of times.

Bradley was still silent.

Lydia leaned down next to him.

“Bradley?”, she asked.

“Lydia…”, Bradley whispered.

Lydia turned his face over.

He had mud all over him, his glasses were out of place, his hair was messy and his eyes were almost shut.

“Lydia…”

Lydia was really worried.

She had a tear in her eye.

“Yes… Bradley?”

Bradley suddenly unveiled a mischievous smile.

“Got ya!”

He grabbed her and threw her onto the mud.

At first, Lydia was surprised.

But then she smiled and let out a hearty laugh.

She pinned him back, and the two started to roll around in the mud, laughing all the way.

They suddenly rolled down the hill next to them, and crashed into some bushes.

They looked at each other.

And laughed.

“Oh, you two are SO cute together!”, two voices suddenly said.

Bradley froze and Lydia turned to see who was the source of the statement.

It wasn’t anyone they had ever met.

Just two teenage girls with the latest designer clothes and purses.

“Sorry, we didn’t mean to interrupt your date, it was just SO cute! We’ll leave you now!”, they said, and they began to leave.

But Bradley was not going to take this.

“I’m sorry, but what the heck is wrong with you?”, Bradley asked.

The girls were dumbfounded.

“Um… Nothing?”, they responded.

“Surely something is! You don’t go around invading people’s personal lives! And for your information, we’re not dating! We’re not even friends! We’re just project partners!”, Bradley shouted.

Those last words hurt Lydia.

“Are you sure? Because she seems to think otherwise.”, one of the girls said.

Bradley looked over to see Lydia looking very emotional.

“We’ll… Go now.”, the girls said, and ran off, feeling bad for the trouble they had unintentionally caused.

Bradley sighed.

“What? What could you possibly be feeling now?”, he asked.

Lydia, who looked like she was about to cry, now got furious.

“What do you mean, “What could you possibly be feeling now?” she asked, getting angrier with every word.

“What do you not feel? You’re constantly being excited, or scared, or nice! What did I do?”, he asked.

“What did you do? You just said we’re not friends!”

“Uh, duh! ‘Cause we’re not! We’re partners! That’s it! But, as ever, you made up this little story with details and heart and meaning about how you and I became friends! Because I’m such a sob story, huh?”

“I felt bad for you! What a terrible thing!”, Lydia said, throwing her arms into the air.

“You can’t even complain normally! That’s what you do! It’s all some big, exciting drama with you! Everything is amazing! Everything has a backstory! Everything is a potential movie!”

“And what’s wrong with that?”, she asked.

“You do cartwheels to think! You have a million good luck charms instead of relying on your brain! You think that we should have fun adventures with weirdos, and go to rollercoasters, and throw a ball instead of actually work! You pitch movies and talk about backstories! You dance and sing in public! You don’t stop talking and doing silly things! And because of that, these people thought I was dating you! Once again, the world laughs at me! And all this because you have to be like this! And it’s dumb!”, Bradley continued to rant.

“You know what’s really dumb? You! You and your unfeeling, calculated and cold world view! Ok, so maybe you get good grades! But what about what you feel? What about all the fun and love you miss out on? But no! No one can say that! Otherwise, your fragile ego would be shattered! You only write down facts, you have no detail, you have no patience for others, no respect, you can’t let yourself feel anything! No wonder no one wants to be friends with you!”, Lydia ranted, tears in her eyes.

Bradley picked up her notes.

“What’s this? I can barely read this! It’s all over the place! Sloppy! Messy! Bizarre! We’ll fail with this kind of material! I knew this wasn’t going to work!”

Lydia picked up his notes.

“There’s, like, 3 pages here! And they are DRAB! I almost fell asleep reading this! I was afraid of getting you, and it looks like I was right! And what’s really annoying was that I tried really hard to get it right with you! To be nice! But it’s like every time we step forwards, you forget all the things I did for you!”

“I was trying too! But you didn’t notice, I guess!”

The two glared at each other angrily.

“You’re the worst partner ever!”, they both shouted.

They looked at each other with anger and hate.

Whatever they were starting to have was completely gone.

A while later, Lydia had packed all her knick knacks, not noticing that she missed one, and took a different thing by mistake.

Bradley sat with his back to her.

“I’m going to do this project on my own. Like I should have from the start.”, he said with a quiet rage.

“Good. Then maybe you’ll fail and see what you’re doing wrong!”, Lydia said, as she started to go down the stairs.

“Good riddance!”, Bradley shouted to her.

“Same to you!”, she shouted back, and shut the door.

The screen cuts into two halves as we see Bradley on the left put his notes on the table, and Lydia on the right put her big pile of notes on her desk, the pile almost falling.

“I’ll show him!”, she says.

“I’ll show her!”, he says. 

WILL BRADLEY AND LYDIA REUNITE? STAY TUNED FOR THE FINAL TWO CHAPTERS!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I know, pretty depressing chapter. But trust me: The next two are way cheerier.
> 
> The next two are also the final chapters for this story!
> 
> Thank goodness I have at least two sequels written!


	6. Walk A Mile In His/Her Shoes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bradley and Lydia see that working alone was a bad idea. Will they take the easy solution? Have you been reading this story at all?

A montage started, showing Lydia working, with her sometimes getting distracted and doing things like spinning plates, dancing to bouncy music and imagining getting an award for best report ever.

Bradley, meanwhile, just works. He writes, he sweats, he toils and he focuses.

Late into the night, the two are still working, Lydia struggling to stay awake, Bradley looking like he’s used to working this hard.

Finally, the two lift finished reports at the same time.

They both look proudly at their finished products.

“Done!”, they both say at the same time.

Bradley then goes into bed, and sleeps as ever: Badly.

Lydia collapses onto her bed.

Once again, Bradley’s parents don’t say good night to him, while Lydia’s do.

Unlike last night, the two don’t text each other.

Why would they?

As they both fall asleep, they can’t wait to show the other how wrong they were.

Day 4.

Morning.

Lydia wakes up, a little later than usual. 

While still angry with Bradley, she was excited and hyped for the day ahead!

Thanks to the difficulty of the report, the school was letting them have Monday off.

And having finished hers, Lydia would have a whole day to herself!

No preparing for her play, no research, no nothing!

She could do anything!

Lydia was already chattering all this (and also talking about her dream, latest movie pitches, etc., etc.) to her parents at breakfast.

Lydia was about to run over and check on Amanda, when suddenly…

“Wait!”, she said to herself and she skidded to a stop.

“I should read my report over! It’s always more fun the second time you read!”, she said excitedly, and she started to move slowly backwards, as if she was phasing through time.

“Watch out for the stairs, sunshine!”, Lydia’s Mom called.

“Will do, Mom!”, Lydia called back.

And Lydia (AHEM!) (My apologies, Lydia!), I mean Millicent Brown, the Girl Who Could Walk Backwards Through Time, made her way upstairs.

Meanwhile, Bradley woke up, having once again slept badly.

Just like Lydia, he still felt anger with his “partner”.

But he also felt pride!

“I finished it in one day! Ha! I doubt that Lydia even wrote one page! I better read my masterpiece so I can remind myself of what a genius I am!”

And then, Bradley could have the whole day to himself!

He couldn’t wait to vent to Mort all about Lydia and her annoying quirks!

He went over to his report.

Lydia picked hers up.

Bradley picked his up.

They began to read.

A few minutes later…

They both finished.

And, strangely enough, they both looked…

Confused.

“This… Is so hard to read.”, Lydia thought.

“This… Is so boring!”, Bradley thought.

Lydia looked at the messy writing.

“I can barely get any of this! The writing is small and hard to see, the words all mix together, there are some unrelated things here (…Did I seriously write that “The main chemicals in attraction are Nicholas Cage, Hersheys and Weird Al Yankovic”?), and… It’s all over the place! It’s a mess!”, Lydia said, failing to understand what she did wrong.

Bradley was shocked too.

“This may be the most boring thing I’ve ever read! I almost fell asleep! And it’s only 3 pages! How can 3 pages be SO boring? And… It feels like a shopping list. It feels… Cold. Distant.”

Bradley and Lydia started to think.

“What did I do wrong?”, they both said at the same time.

And they both realized at the same time.

“Oh my god.”, Bradley said quietly.

“O. M. G!”, Lydia screamed.

“This… Is what Bradley was telling me about.”, Lydia thought.

“This… Is what Lydia was telling me about.”, Bradley thought.

Lydia collapsed on her bed.

Bradley collapsed on his chair.

They both didn’t know what to do.

Lydia started breathing heavily.

“THIS IS BAD! THIS IS BAD! I’M GOING TO FAIL ANOTHER TEST, AND THAT’S GOING TO DO WONDERS TO MY CONFIDENCE WITH THE PLAY, AND THEN I’LL FEEL SAD, AND I DON’T WANT TO FEEL SAD, THERE’S TOO MUCH FUN TO BE MISSED IF I’M SAD, AND…”, Lydia’s thoughts ricchoted through her head.

She tried to calm down again.

“Take it easy, Lydia… Maybe your knick knacks can help!”, she thought, her optimism slowly returning.

“Yeah! Calm down, and then figure out how to fix this!”, she thought, and she started to pick each one up.

“I AM GOING TO FAIL. FAIL. F-A-I-L. FAIL! AND THEN WHAT? I’LL BE LAUGHED OFF AGAIN! AND I’LL FEEL BAD AGAIN! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO? WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?”, Bradley thought, panicking.

He calmed himself down.

“Take it easy, Bradley. Just… Find your happy place. Find your snow globe.”

A novel idea!

Bradley went to his desk to look at his snow globe.

As Lydia encouraged herself with her knick knacks, Bradley couldn’t find his snow globe!

“NO! NO! WHERE IS IT?!”, he thought, fear in his eyes as he searched frantically throughout the room.

Lydia suddenly realized…

“WHERE’S REGGIE?!”, she thought, and a million thoughts raced through her head as she dashed throughout the room, looking for him.

“REGGIE?! REGGIE?! WHERE ARE YOU, BUDDY?! NO! I’VE LOST HIM! I’VE LOST HIM AND HE’S NEVER COMING BACK! LIKE WHEN A FATHER GOES TO WAR AND NEVER RETURNS! WE’LL HAVE TO HAVE A FUNERAL! BUT I DON’T KNOW HOW TO LOCATE HIS FAMILY AND NEXT OF KIN! MAYBE I’LL MAKE THEM FOR YOU! YES! THAT’S RIGHT! I’LL MAKE LITTLE CACTI KNICK KNACKS AND HOLD A FUNERAL! CLOSED CASKET, SINCE WE CAN’T FIND THE BODY! CORRECTION: I CAN’T FIND THE BODY! I’M SO SORRY, REGGIE! I’M A TERRIBLE FRIEND!”, she raved.

Bradley suddenly felt something underneath the desk.

“YES! Got you!”

Lydia suddenly noticed something in her backpack.

“REGGIE?! MOMMY’S COMING, REGGIE! I’M WITH YOU ‘TILL THE END OF THE LINE!”, she dove her hand into her backpack.

Bradley took his thing out.

Lydia took her thing out.

But…

It wasn’t what they expected.

“…A Cactus with sunglasses who’s waving?”, Bradley pondered out loud.

“…A snow globe?”, Lydia asked, surprised.

At first, Bradley didn’t recognize the cactus.

But as he put it close to his face, he could suddenly hear Lydia’s voice as she described it back in that first day:

“And this… Is ?! He’s a cactus with sunglasses who waves! When I see him…”

He remembered interrupting her. And then…

“No! He just makes me smile! Isn’t he cute and funny?”

Bradley felt the knick knack in his hand.

“What was your name again? Freddie? Teddy?...”

He snapped his fingers.

“Reggie! Yes!”

He put Reggie down.

“She really likes you… She probably feels terrible not having you…”, he thought, a sad feeling passing through him.

But then, his anger returned.

“So what? She was a terrible partner! Maybe she deserves to feel this way!”

He looked at Reggie.

It felt like Reggie was giving him a judging stare.

“…Right?”

Meanwhile, Lydia wracked her brain trying to remember what that snow globe was.

“I’ve never seen you before! Right?”

Suddenly, as she put it up close to her face, she could see the glass reflect, as if a memory was playing on its surface, the moment she did see it:

“Wait, what’s this?”, she pointed at the snow globe.

Bradley’s eyes widened.

“Stay away from that!”, he said, shoving Lydia aside and caressing his globe.

Lydia realized that the globe held a significance in Bradley’s heart.

“It’s very important to me, ok? Please do not…”

“I understand. I won’t ask.”, Lydia said, trying to make Bradley understand that she respected his privacy.

“Oh no! Bradley must be SO upset that he’s lost you!”, Lydia said, feeling sadness and guilt at the mistake she made.

But then she hardened again.

“Well, so what? Bradley’s a jerk! He deserves it!”, she said.

The glass reflected a sad Bradley.

“…Right?”, she asked, now doubtful.

Bradley found it ridiculous.

This was the kind of stuff children do!

Or Lydia.

But… He had no one else right now.

So Bradley began to speak to Reggie.

“Listen… Reggie. I have… A problem.”

Lydia looked at the snow globe.

“I think I’ll call you… Snowy. Is that ok?”, she asked, and she put the globe to her ear.

“Great! So, Snowy… I have a problem, and I need your expert advice, especially since you know Bradley better than I do.”

“You and Lydia have been… Friends for a while, I assume…”, Bradley continued.

Man, this was weird.

“…My report here… It’s boring. It’s drab. It’s simple. It’s… Terrible.”, he admitted, hanging his head in shame.

“Snowy… You and Bradley have a deep bond. So… I hope you can help. My report is a mess! It’s all over the place! It’s fun… But I don’t think it’s… Structured enough. It’s… Terrible.”, she admitted, hanging her head in shame.

Bradley looked at Reggie.

“And… She was right.”

Lydia looked at Snowy.

“And… He was right.”

Bradley felt terrible.

“Oh, Reggie! What did I do? Sure, she could be annoying, and weird, and overenthusiastic, but…”

Lydia felt terrible too.

“Oh, Snowy! What do I do? Sure, he could be annoying, and jerky, and moody, but…”

Bradley felt a tear drop.

“She was… My friend.”

Lydia felt a tear drop.

“He was… My friend.”

Bradley put Reggie to his ears.

“You’re right. I should apologize. I was… Mean. But… I can’t face her! Not after what I did! I… I don’t deserve her.”

He rested his head on the desk.

“I don’t deserve anyone.”

Lydia put Snowy to her ear.

“I should TOTALLY apologize! But, like, I… I was mean, and selfish, and horrible! I was the opposite of fabulous! I was… Unfabulous! And besides… Bradley doesn’t want to be pitied. If I go and apologize, it might make him even sadder! And I won’t do that, even if it will make my conscience feel better!”

Bradley and Lydia sighed.

“But… What do I do about the report?”, they both asked.

Lydia looked over at her mirror and her costume closet.

Suddenly, she got an idea.

“Wait… That’s it!”, she thought, her face looking bright as ever.

Bradley looked at Reggie.

“Yeah… If she was looking for an idea… That’s what she’d do.”, he reminisced fondly.

Back then, it was so weird.

But now…

He missed it.

He got up…

And…

Thunk ka thunk!

He started to cartwheel.

Lydia looked at her reflection.

The idea was formulating in her mind.

Bradley suddenly fell mid cartwheel.

He realized something.

“Maybe that’s not the only thing I need to borrow from her…”, he said out loud.

“I need to be more structured… Like Bradley.”, Lydia said, organizing her thoughts.

Bradley stood up and looked at the sun.

It seemed more inviting suddenly.

“I need to be more fun… Like Lydia.”, Bradley said, loosening up.

Lydia and Bradley both came to the same conclusion.

“I must become…”, Lydia started, and she put on a pair of fake glasses.

“I must become…”, Bradley started, and he welcomed the bright sunshine onto his face.

“Bradley.”, Lydia said, impersonating his voice.

“Lydia!”, Bradley sang to the masses.

The rest of the day went in a very unexpected way.

Lydia got an exact replica of Bradley’s clothes (“Sir, I need an exact replica of this cute outfit please. Please get the shirt right! It looks great on him, it needs to look great on me!”), and started to behave like him.

She walked less enthusiastically, talked much less, and spent time thinking in a structured way.

“Don’t dance, don’t sing, don’t laugh.”, she kept repeating to herself, which was hard, since it was International “Dance Like No One Is Watching” day in Danville.

She sat and meditated to calm her thoughts.

“To be like Bradley”, she reasoned, “One must go method.”

She went to the museum of love and wrote down the facts, and just the facts.

She could add details and fun later.

Now… It was time to get serious.

“Hey, Lydia, how are you?”, Amanda asked on the phone.

“Who’s Lydia? This is I, Bradley Nicholson, the smartest kid in school.”, Lydia answered.

Amanda blinked in confusion.

“You’re going method again?”, Amanda asked.

“Trust me, it’s the right thing to do.”, Lydia explained.

“Well, I’m sure it will all work out in the end.”, Amanda said to herself after the conversation.

“I’m telling you, Amanda! One day, an evil being from the future will try to change the very balance of the cosmos!”, Chad warned.

Amanda groaned.

Bradley, meanwhile, was being VERY different.

“Hello, shopkeeper?”, he asked the shopkeeper.

“Yes?”, the shopkeeper answered.

Bradley showed a picture of Lydia that he asked Amanda to send him.

“Do you have any clothes like these, please?”, he asked.

The shopkeeper showed a whole row of clothes identical to Lydia’s. There were also rows that had Milo’s outfit, Melissa’s outfit, Zack’s outfit, Mort’s outfit, Amanda’s outfit, and so on and so on.

“Thank you.”, he said politely.

“Woah. I didn’t realize we all wore the same outfit every day.”

He went to where Lydia’s outfits were.

He suddenly noticed a familiar looking one.

“Hey, you’ve even got mine!”, he remarked and read the tag.

“Average boy with glasses… Ouch!”, he remarked.

He took a deep breath.

“Stay calm, Bradley… Be like her.”

He took the outfit into a changing room and slipped into it.

A few minutes later, he came out, looking exactly like Lydia, minus the hairstyle.

“Well, world, get ready for the new me! The cute, happy me!”, he said, and he posed.

He looked to his left and saw Serendipitacely dressed with Cavendish’s hat and Dakota’s track suit.

“…I can explain.”, Serend started sheepishly.

“Don’t. You look TOTALLY FABULOUS!”, Bradley complimented.

And in a weird way, he meant it.

Serend smiled and made his way to the Cavendish and Dakota fan club meeting.

Bradley strutted down the street, dancing to the songs played for “International Dance Like No One Is Watching” day.

“Keep it up, my boy! You’re doing great, son!”, Random Guy With Hair said.

Bradley blinked in confusion.

“Darn it! Wrong AU again!”, he yelled and walked off to a portal. 

Bradley decided to ignore that and continue his quest.

He talked more, emoted more, and in general, was a lot nicer.

He even went to a hair stylist to get the exact hairdo Lydia has.

He had never felt this loose! This free!

It was… Sort of intoxicating.

“No wonder Lydia’s like this all the time!”, he thought.

Mort, who was chasing after a fleeing Joni, who had a bee hive stuck on her head, suddenly noticed Bradley.

“…Bradley?”, he asked.

“Oh, hi Mort!”, Bradley waved excitedly. “Isn’t this day, like, TOTALLY the BEST DAY EVER?!”, he asked, and he skipped along to the museum of love.

Mort just stared in shock.

“MORT! HELP!”, Joni screamed.

Mort looked behind him and saw Joni get carried off by vultures.

“Don’t worry, Joni! I’m coming!”, Mort yelled, and he ran after her.

Bradley tried his hardest to feel.

To feel what love means.

For some reason, it worked better when he imagined the relationships portrayed in the exhibits as if they were about Lydia and him.

He was sure it would be easier with Melissa.

“Eh, it’s probably nothing.”, he thought.

By the end of the day, Lydia had a structured report, and she felt like she had done a great job.

And Bradley had a fun report, with heart costumes and a dance troupe ready for tomorrow.

He too felt like he had done a great job.

“Lydia will be so happy when she sees this!”, Bradley thought proudly as he went to bed.

“Bradley will be so happy when he sees this!”, Lydia thought proudly as she went to bed.

Bradley looked at Reggie.

Lydia looked at Snowy.

“You’ll be back with your owner tomorrow. I promise.”, they both promised.

They went to sleep.

THE FINAL CHAPTER COMES OUT NEXT WEEK!


	7. Maybe We Can Be Friends...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of the first story! Can Bradley and Lydia finally become friends?!

Day 5.

Jefferson County Middle School Hallway.

Having made some final revisions, Lydia stood outside of Ms. Murawski’s class, barely able to wait, but trying to stay serious.

“I don’t have the fun parts, yet, but that’s ok! Maybe all it needs is structure!”, Lydia thought, and she waited patiently for Bradley to come.

“He’s gonna be SO… I mean, he’s gonna be so happy when he sees this!”, she thought.

As she waited, Milo and Melissa (with casts and wide smiles) walked in to the classroom.

“Team Milolissa, boom!”, they went, and high fived with their not broken arms.

They were followed by Mort and Joni (the latter covered in bandages and looking upset, the former putting a hand on her shoulder to cheer her up), Zack and Crystal (The latter chasing him around), Amanda and Chad (The former holding the project, the latter still raving about aliens, robots and masterminds), and Mabel and Sid (who, get this… Existed!).

But Bradley was still nowhere in sight.

And neither was Ms. Murawski (who was running late).

“Is he ok?”, Lydia thought, worried.

“Did I hurt his feelings so badly that he refused to come?”, she thought, getting panicked.

“What have I done? I must apologize!”, she said out loud, and just started to run out when…

“MAKE WAY! MAKE WAY! THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH IS HERE!”

Entering the hallway was a sight no one (not even Milo) expected to see.

10 professional dancers, clad in light pinks and light blues, twirled in the halls, perfectly in sync, not faltering for an instant.

As they twirled, a towering man, with arms as large as tree trunks, played a triangle so quietly, a microorganism could hear it.

A DJ entered, blasting remixes of classical music, pop, rock and Jazz, with a hint of the Toradora OP. He had purple spikey hair and sunglasses that hid his eyes, but not his soul, that radiated from every note, disk scratch and wild guttural scream of excitement.

The Danville Orchestra, led by Tugiacat and Cool Genius also entered. Violins, Violas, Chellos, Bass Guitars, Pianos, Dijerri Doos… You name it! The orchestra had them all, and they filled the halls with music that swelled the hearts of the students.

Finally, they stopped.

Tugia and Cool Genius got the attention of the drummers, who began a drum roll.

Coming from the back, and leaping into the air, before finishing up with a split, was Bradley, still dressed up like Lydia, with two heart costumes being held in his hands, and a wide grin.

“YOUR SAVIOR IS HERE!”, he announced, a little ego spilling out, as the music stopped, and they all bowed.

The students were surprised, but applauded wildly, before spilling into the classroom, waiting for the very late Ms. Murawski.

“Great work, Bradley!”, Milo complimented as he walked in.

“…Thank you, Milo!”, Bradley accepted in return.

Melissa playfully punched Zack’s shoulder after hearing about Crystal, and all the kids went in, Joni only tripping for a second.

Lydia was…

Frozen in utter shock.

“…Bradley?”, she asked, still failing to understand what had happened.

Bradley, still glowing from the rush of the performance, had only now noticed Lydia.

He glanced at her and…

Yep.

Frozen in shock too.

“…Lydia?”, he asked, not understanding what was going on at all.

The two teens stared at each other.

I mean, it was pretty awkward, you know?

After all the crazy escapades they had, they had gotten a little close, only for a fight to break them apart, and now, after more than a day, here they were, dressed as each other.

Weird does not BEGIN to describe it.

“…Hi.”, Lydia began, still confused, embarrassed, and ashamed.

“…Hey.”, Bradley replied, the exact same feelings being felt by him now too.

…

“Look, I’m sorry…”, they both started.

“I didn’t mean to…”, they continued.

“I was terrible…”, they kept on, but they kept talking at the same time.

Finally, the tension and humor of the whole scenario made them laugh.

“…You first.”, Bradley said.

Lydia shuffled her feet on the floor and held the back of her neck.

Usually, the sunny girl was all words, a constant stream of information emanating from her mouth.

But now…

She was a little lost for words.

“…Ok, so first… I’m sorry. For… For being so mean. You weren’t nice yourself, but… I know you were trying. And I know now that I needed some structure. Like, I read the whole thing, and it was totes not awesome balls, and, like, it needed something else. And then I realized that you were right. Things need structure. Sometimes… I need to think things through. So… I did. And I got this report, all neat and organized.”, she showed off the report.

Bradley looked it over and whistled, impressed.

“That is one structured report!”, he said, amazed.

He pointed at her.

“And the get up?”, he asked, suppressing a smile.

Lydia blushed.

“I was… Trying to go method… So I dressed up like you.”

She hung her head in shame.

“I really am sorry, Bradley. You weren’t so nice… But that didn’t give me any right to behave that way myself.”

Bradley was touched by this apology.

“Thank you… Really. And I too…”, he stammered, but regained his composure.

“I too want to apologize. I was selfish and mean… I was bossy… And you were totally right… My report was… A snooze fest. I really almost fell asleep reading it. It was so cold and distant… Like me.”

Bradley hung his head in shame too.

“I… I AM sorry. Truly. You… You were so nice to me… I should have tried harder. I should have been nicer.”

Lydia pointed at the dance troupe, orchestra and get up.

“And all this?”, she asked, smiling.

Bradley sheepishly scratched his head.

“I guess… Some of your eccentricities rubbed off on me. I decided… It also needed to be fun. Interesting. It had to have meaning. So… I did this.”

He pointed at it all.

The two laughed.

The situation was so weird.

Yet…

It seemed to break the ice.

Maybe…

Maybe now they could fix things.

“You know… We still have time.”, Lydia said.

Bradley wasn’t so sure.

“I don’t know… Ms. Murawski won’t run late forever.”

Lydia grasped his hands.

“Bradley… We can finally work together. I’m sure we can finish this in time!”

Bradley looked at her.

He wanted to do it.

But not for the grade.

He wanted to do it for her.

“Ok… I’ll try. That is, if you’ll let me be your partner again?”, he asked, hopeful.

Lydia shook his hand.

“You’ve got it, partner.”

They smiled.

It was time to get to work.

1 hour later…

It took much work and grit and determination and hot cocoh, but in the end, Bradley and Lydia finished their report and planned a dance routine.

Now, you will understandably ask:

How late could Ms. Murawski be?

Well, there was a reason, and it was a good one (and not just because the author wrote himself to a corner).

(Not at all)

(Cough cough)

Ms. Murawski ran in to the classroom, panting heavily.

She had just run 10 blocks.

“Sorry… I’m… So… Late… Children…”, she gasped out.

She straightened her clothes.

“My desk finally gave birth, you know? A mother has to be present.”

The class stared back in shock.

“Moving on, let’s see your projects!”, she said excitedly.

The projects were presented, one by one, each one earning much applause and approval.

Finally, Bradley and Lydia stepped up.

The two held a piece of paper up to introduce their work.

“Love: What does it all mean?”, Bradley started.

“We as a species depend on love. On romance. On attraction. Without it, we cannot reproduce and give life to the next generation.”, Lydia continued.

“In other words, without love, none of us would be here.”

The two were totally in sync.

“Each and every single one of you is here because of love. Because two people… Two totally random people met… And, through a chemical process designed to create attraction…”, Lydia started.

“And through the emotional connections we build with said people…”, Bradley continued.

“Those two people came together. Not just to continue the human race…”, Lydia said.

“But also…”, Bradley said.

They joined hands.

“To be together. Because, in the end… That’s what life is all about. Coming together… Because of love.”

The two gazed deeply into each other’s eyes.

“So… In order to present that…”, Bradley said.

“We will show it to you…”, Lydia continued.

The heart costumes were thrown into the air, and they leapt into them.

The orchestra and dance troupe came in.

“IN DANCE!”, they announced, and the routine began.

“A+! Yes!”, Bradley shouted later, next to his locker.

Lydia let out a Woo Hoo and did her victory dance.

Bradley shook his head, but this time, he was amused.

“We did it, Bradley!”, Lydia enthused, and raised her hand for a high five.

Bradley grinned.

“We did, didn’t we?”, he high fived back.

Lydia was still buzzing with excitement.

“I’m so happy, I could eat 10 whole tacos now! With chocolate milkshakes! Ooh, and some sodas!”, Lydia back flipped around the halls.

“Try not to throw up this time.”, Bradley deadpanned.

Lydia giggled.

“Ooh, maybe this could be a movie!: Two opposites work together on a project, and after much hardship, overcome the obstacles to win the day!”, she pitched, stars in her eyes.

Bradley would have, in the past, said that he doubts anyone would see that.

But, hey, that girl was something else.

She really had changed him.

“Yeah. That would be something.”, Bradley nodded in agreement.

Lydia then remembered what she had to do.

She took out her backpack, and, going through the mess (some things never change), she took out…

“Snowy… Well, that’s what I call him, but… Here. I, like, totally accidentally took him from your house. I didn’t bring him back because… I was ashamed and afraid of seeing you again. It… Was a total mistake, and I am SO, SO, SO sorry!”, she said, remorsefully.

She handed Snowy back to Bradley.

“I know how much he meant to you.”

Bradley was overjoyed.

“Oh! I was so worried! Thank you, Lydia.”

He gave her an encouraging smile.

“And don’t worry… I know it was an accident. Everything’s cool.”

Suddenly, Bradley remembered.

“Besides… We’re kind of even now.”

He took out Reggie.

“You forgot Reggie back in my house. I… I’m sorry I didn’t bring him sooner. I too was ashamed and afraid of seeing you again. But he’s here, and he’s safe. I am so so sorry too.”, he said, remorsefully.

Lydia spun Reggie around.

“Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!”, she squealed with joy.

It was then her turn to give Bradley an encouraging smile.

“And don’t worry. I know it was an accident too. Everything is bingo bongo super duper FANTASTIC!”, she said, and she hugged Bradley, before they parted awkwardly.

There was an awkward air about them now.

A silent question hung in the air:

Now what?

“Well, I’ve got, like, SO much to do!”, Lydia said, and waved goodbye.

“Yeah… Me too…”, Bradley said, and he went back to his packing.

As Lydia walked cheerfully down the halls, she had a million thoughts race around her mind.

There was SO much to think about! Like how she was going to finally talk to Amanda and check out how her bestie’s doing, and how she was going to treat herself to those 10 tacos, chocolate milkshake and sodas, or how she had to prepare for the play (shudder), or how she was so proud of how everything worked out so well, and how she was going to write down her new movie idea, and how nice the weather was, and how she was going to check how all the others did, and how she was going to help her Dad make dinner, and how she was going to name her giraffe, and how she was going to miss Bradley, and how she was going to see Homecoming again and…

Wait.

Then, Lydia did something she had never ever really done before:

She stopped and thought.

In the next two seconds, she realized something:

“Oh. My. GOD. I AM going to miss Bradley. Despite everything, despite all the problems… I really do want to hang out with him! He’s funny, and smart, and nice, when he wants to be, and he has a passion inside of him, and he’s interesting, and he’s cute…”

Lydia froze.

“Woah. That last one’s probably a mistake. Better ignore that.”

But then she smiled.

“The rest, though… That’s true. I would miss him.”

She then turned around.

“But… Maybe I don’t have to.”

Bradley, meanwhile, was thinking about the same thing.

Lydia was funny, and interesting, and passionate, and different, and nice, and smart in her own way, and cute…

Yep. No. Not that last one. No way. Must be his head.

But the rest…

All true.

And he would miss her.

Suddenly, he turned and saw an unusually shy Lydia look at him.

Bradley was quiet.

What was going on?

Lydia shuffled her feet and blushed.

Bradley looked at her, wondering what she was going to say.

She took a deep breath.

“SolikeIwasthinkingohmygoshI’mliketotallygonnamissyoubecauseyouwerealotoffunandreallynicedespiteeverythingandIamgoingtomissyouandlikemaybeIdon’tmaybewecanbefriendsandhangoutsometimesand…”

She then took a deeper breath.

“Sorry. Nerves.”, she smiled weakly.

“Look… I am going to miss you. You’re… Funny, and nice (when you want to be) and interesting, and smart, and… Well, just someone I like hanging around with. Maybe… We could do that, you know? Who says we have to stop being partners? Maybe we could be… Friends?”

Bradley looked at her.

Someone…

Lydia…

Wanted to be his friend?

A few days ago, Bradley would have laughed at the very thought.

But now…

He was…

Happy.

He…

He wanted this.

He wanted her.

“I… I would very much like that. I think the same of you too.”

Lydia and Bradley blushed.

“So, like… Tomorrow… Want to go to the arcade? Hang out? Maybe also go to the ice cream place?”

Bradley gave her a cocky grin.

“I don’t know… Your butt’s gonna get kicked so badly when you face ME.”

Lydia raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, you are SO ON!”

They laughed.

“So, tomorrow?”, Lydia asked.

Bradley nodded.

“Yeah. Tomorrow.”

Lydia smiled.

“Good!”

Bradley smiled.

“Great!”

“Terrific!”

“Wonderful!”

“All right.”

“Ok.”

Lydia then ran off.

“See ya, friend!”

Bradley waved.

“Yeah… See ya, friend.”

Lydia was beaming as her heart beat like a jackhammer.

Bradley smiled as he felt better than he had felt for a long time.

“…Wow…”

Suddenly, Mort appeared behind him.

“So… Little Bradley’s got a girlfriend!”

Bradley blushed as red as a tomato.

“MORT!”

Post Credit Scene 1:

A few days later…

The water ran calmly, failing to reflect the internal storm she felt.

The tears ran down, but she would not yield to him.

They needed her.

They needed the hero who smiles and says that all is ok.

Because she is here.

She turned off the tap.

She rubbed her face.

Lydia took a deep breath.

“Ok… I’m ok…”, she said.

She would help her drama group.

She would not fail.

Coming soon:

Sunny and Grey 2: Stage Fright!

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, this is the very first Bradley X Lydia fanfiction! I have something special here, guys: This multi chapter work is one of my best, and is also my longest work. I REALLY hope that you all like it!


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